Risks of tainted food rise as inspections drop

Amid high-profile scares, FDA safety testing has fallen by half since 2003

The Associated Press
Updated: 9:13 p.m. ET Feb 26, 2007

The federal agency that’s been front and center in warning the public about tainted spinach and contaminated peanut butter is conducting just half the food safety inspections it did three years ago.

The cuts by the Food and Drug Administration come despite a barrage of high-profile food recalls.

“We have a food safety crisis on the horizon,” said Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia.