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One year after FDA workforce cuts began, the evidence shows a food-safety system facing documented inspection and implementation weaknesses—but it does not establish that the cuts caused a particular drop in inspections, a delayed outbreak response, or an illness. HHS’s inspector general documented domestic inspection gaps; Associated Press reporting found fewer FDA inspections of foreign food sites in fiscal year 2025; and the Government Accountability Office’s 2026 updates show progress on some Food Safety Modernization Act requirements alongside work that remains unfinished.
Is food safety worse after the FDA cuts?
The available evidence does not support a simple yes-or-no verdict about whether food safety became worse because of the cuts. It does show that FDA oversight had significant weaknesses, and unfinished food-safety work, before the 2025 workforce reductions. Later reporting documents a decline in foreign food inspections in fiscal year 2025, while a 2026 outbreak investigation raised questions about how quickly FDA inspectors reached a farm under investigation. But the available sources do not isolate the cuts’ causal effect on inspection rates or prove that inspection reductions caused a specific outbreak or illness.
The scale of the responsibility is substantial. HHS’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) cited an estimate that about 48 million people in the United States become ill from foodborne diseases each year, with 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. Those figures describe the overall burden of foodborne disease, not deaths or illnesses attributed to the 2025 cuts.
Did the FDA cut food inspectors?
Reports in February 2025 described job cuts affecting FDA food programs, but they do not establish a complete, verified count of food-program staffing losses or show that the cuts specifically reduced the number of field inspectors.
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- The Associated Press reported that probationary FDA workers responsible for reviewing the safety of food ingredients received termination notices. The total number of FDA positions eliminated was unclear in that report.
- Axios reported that FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Jim Jones resigned and cited 89 staffers cut over a weekend. That was a contemporaneous attributed figure, not a verified total for all food-program staffing losses.
In its September 2026 coverage of a foreign-farm investigation, AP reported that inspectors were not among the 3,500 jobs targeted for termination. It also reported that more than half of the staff handling travel bookings had been eliminated, leaving inspectors to arrange much of their own travel. This account indicates a reported operational constraint, but it does not quantify how much the staffing change affected inspection totals or response times across FDA programs.
Are FDA food inspections down?
The picture differs between domestic and foreign inspections. OIG’s domestic review found inspection and follow-up problems, but it did not attribute them to the 2025 cuts. For foreign inspections, AP reported a specific fiscal-year decline based on FDA figures and described a longer-running gap between inspection totals and the annual target.
| Inspection area | What the record says | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic food facilities | HHS OIG’s 2025 review found that FDA conducted fewer inspections than before the pandemic and missed required inspection timeframes for many facilities. OIG also found that FDA attempted to inspect thousands of facilities that were no longer operating. | The OIG findings do not measure the effect of the 2025 cuts or attribute the domestic shortfalls to them. |
| Foreign food sites | AP reported 1,140 FDA foreign food inspections in fiscal year 2025, 17% fewer than in fiscal year 2024. AP also reported that inspections were nearly 35% below 2019 levels. | The figures show a decline, not its cause. They also do not describe every FDA tool for overseeing imported food. |
| Foreign inspection target | AP reported that FDA had not met the congressional annual target of more than 19,000 foreign food-site inspections. AP reported 1,700 inspections in 2019, the previous high—still less than one-tenth of the target. | The target is not a count of all FDA import-safety activity. The inspection total and the target measure foreign-site inspections, not all oversight tools. |
Domestic inspections: missed schedules and follow-up
In its 2025 review, HHS OIG found that FDA did not inspect many food facilities within required timeframes and, for most significant violations, did not conduct timely follow-up inspections. The agency also tried to inspect thousands of facilities that were no longer operating, an inefficient use of inspection resources.
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OIG reported that FDA identified significant violations in 1% to 2% of inspected facilities each year, with that identification rate decreasing steadily over time. That is a finding about violations identified during inspections—not proof that facilities became safer, nor proof that the cuts caused the decline. OIG recommended that FDA increase inspections, improve identification of inactive facilities, examine the decline in significant violations found, and conduct timely follow-up. FDA concurred with all four recommendations.
Foreign inspections: a decline against a long-standing shortfall
AP’s fiscal-year 2025 figure is the clearest post-cut numerical measure in the available reporting: 1,140 foreign food-site inspections, down 17% from fiscal year 2024. The longer-term context matters. AP reported that inspections were nearly 35% below 2019 and that the 2019 total of 1,700 was itself far short of the congressional target of more than 19,000 per year. FDA had not met that target, according to AP’s reporting on FDA records and GAO findings.
These numbers concern one inspection program. They should not be read as a complete measure of FDA oversight of imported food, which also includes importer verification, field examinations, and sampling.
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What do the FDA cuts mean for food recalls and outbreaks?
FDA says inspections help verify compliance, respond to outbreaks, and follow up on recalls and other risks. In practice, inspections include routine surveillance, targeted checks, compliance follow-up, and for-cause visits. The timing of a site visit can matter during an investigation, but the available reporting does not establish that the cuts caused a specific delay or that a particular facility caused an illness outbreak.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallWhat AP reported about the 2026 cyclospora investigation
In September 2026, AP reported that FDA inspectors reached a Mexican farm associated by FDA with a cyclospora investigation tied to lettuce about one month after a July 17 recall announcement. AP said it was FDA’s first visit to that site since 2019. Former FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response Frank Yiannas said, “It took us too long to get boots on the ground.” AP also reported that, although inspectors were not among the 3,500 jobs targeted for termination, more than half of the staff who handled travel bookings had been eliminated, leaving inspectors to arrange much of their own travel.
The account did not settle the farm’s responsibility. AP reported that Mexican authorities said they found no positive samples or other red flags there; FDA retracted a faulty test result that had been said to detect cyclospora on a lettuce sample; and FDA’s investigation remained ongoing. The delay and travel-booking changes are reported facts in this case, but the available account does not establish that the staffing cuts caused the timing of the visit.
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Why inspections are only part of import oversight
Former FDA food director Susan Mayne told AP that “Inspections will never be the only way to ensure the safety of imported products given the massive volume coming into the country.” FDA describes its approach to imported food as including importer verification, field examinations, sampling, and foreign inspections. A lower count of foreign visits therefore signals a shortfall in that part of the system, but does not alone measure the full strength or weakness of import controls.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What food-safety work remained unfinished in 2026?
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requires FDA to carry out food-safety rules and related reporting and performance-measurement work. GAO’s January 2026 report found that FDA still needed to complete some FSMA requirements and assess whether its rules helped prevent foodborne illness. FDA officials cited competing priorities and the October 2024 agency reorganization as reasons some requirements had not been fully completed.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsIn March 2025, FDA officials told GAO they intended to establish a food-tracing system by July 2028, but did not provide specific timeframes for other requirements. GAO’s July 2026 status update then recorded progress on tracing and identified other tasks still underway. These are GAO’s reports of agency status and plans, not independent verification that every underlying requirement has been completed.
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| FSMA work | Status reported by GAO in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Product tracing | GAO’s July 2026 update said FDA had established a product-tracing system and documented an implementation plan and timeline in a March 2026 report to Congress. |
| Guidance and good agricultural practices | FDA was working toward timeframes for finalizing hazard-analysis and preventive-controls guidance, intentional-adulteration guidance, and updated good agricultural practices. |
| National food emergency response laboratory network report | FDA told GAO it had drafted a report but did not give a publication date. |
| Biennial reports | FDA reported a process for biennial reports beginning in 2027. |
| Animal-food rule performance management | GAO reported that FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine was in the process of hiring a full-time employee who would partly work on performance management for the Preventive Controls for Animal Food Rule. |
Who inspects restaurants and imported food?
FDA’s remit is broad, but it does not mean FDA inspectors routinely inspect every restaurant. FDA oversees many food facilities and imported food, while more than 3,000 state, local, and tribal agencies have primary responsibility for retail food and foodservice establishments, according to FDA.
For domestic food facilities, FSMA sets minimum inspection frequencies based on risk: high-risk facilities must be inspected at least once every three years, and non-high-risk facilities at least once every five years. Infant-formula manufacturers have an annual risk-based inspection requirement. FDA and state partners also conduct targeted surveillance, compliance follow-up, and for-cause inspections. These requirements describe the intended inspection framework; OIG’s findings show that FDA did not meet required timeframes for many facilities.
Imported food oversight uses multiple mechanisms. FDA says it seeks oversight comparable to domestic requirements through importer verification, field examination, sampling, and inspections abroad. Former FDA inspection official Michael Rogers, who spent nearly 35 years in FDA inspection roles, told AP: “When you look at the numbers of inspections balanced against the responsibility of the FDA — in terms of all the firms domestically and internationally under its oversight — the agency just can’t achieve what is required.”
What can be concluded about the cuts?
The strongest conclusion is narrower than either “food is now unsafe” or “the cuts had no effect.” Domestic inspection weaknesses were documented by HHS OIG, and incomplete FSMA work was documented by GAO; both records include problems or plans that predate the 2025 cuts. AP then reported a 17% decline in foreign food inspections in fiscal year 2025 and described staffing-related travel constraints in a 2026 outbreak investigation. These are meaningful signs of strain, but the available evidence does not provide a complete, independently verified count of food-program job losses, a causal before-and-after evaluation, or proof that inspection reductions caused a specific outbreak or illness.
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