FDA inspections questioned after cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to Taylor Farms

Key Points:

• The cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to contaminated lettuce from Taylor Farms in Guanajuato, Mexico, has caused nearly 25,000 cases and two deaths in the U.S., with the farm not inspected since 2019 and previously under investigation in 2013.
• Taylor Farms, headquartered in Salinas, California, was identified by the FDA as the source of the outbreak, highlighting concerns about food safety inspections at foreign facilities.
• The FDA has consistently failed to meet its mandated inspection goals for foreign food facilities, conducting just under 1,000 inspections in 2025 compared to a required number nearly 20 times higher.
• Despite a federal law requiring extensive foreign food safety inspections, the FDA has met less than 10% of its targets over the past decade, with 2025's inspection count being the lowest since 2011, excluding pandemic years.
• FDA officials attribute the shortfall in inspections to budgetary and staffing limitations, calling the agency's inspection targets unrealistic under current conditions.