FDA外国食品检查人力不足背景下环孢子虫疫情爆发

美国爆发由受污染冰山生菜引起的环孢子虫疫情，涉及泰勒农场位于墨西哥瓜纳华托州的产品1。疫情于7月17日宣布召回，但美国食品药品监督管理局(FDA)的检查人员直到约一个月后的8月中旬才抵达该农场进行检查1。这次疫情反映出FDA外国食品检查能力的长期衰退问题。

自2019年以来，FDA对外国食品检查场所的检查下降近35%1。根据《2011年食品安全现代化法》，FDA应年检超过19000个国际食品场所1，但实际远未达标：2019年的最高纪录仅为1700次1，2025财年更是下降至1140次，降幅达17%1。人力不足是关键因素，FDA食品检查人员虽超过420人，但其中10%-15%的职位长期空缺1，且国际检查人员工作时间中有50%或以上用于出差1。本财年已宣布超过480起食品召回，已超过前五年中的四年1。

A Cyclospora outbreak linked to contaminated iceberg lettuce from a Taylor Fresh farm in Guanajuato, Mexico has highlighted a significant decline in U.S. food safety oversight 1. The outbreak was announced on July 17, with FDA inspectors not arriving at the farm until mid-August—approximately one month later 1. This delayed response occurs against a backdrop of diminished regulatory capacity, as FDA foreign food inspections have fallen nearly 35% since 2019 1.

The scale of the agency's resource constraints is significant. Despite a congressional mandate requiring the FDA to conduct over 19,000 annual inspections of international food facilities under the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, the agency achieved only 1,700 inspections in 2019, its historical peak 1. The situation has worsened: foreign food inspections dropped 17% in fiscal year 2025 to just 1,140 1. This staffing challenge is compounded by chronic vacancies within the FDA's food inspection corps of over 420 personnel, with 10% to 15% of positions remaining unfilled, while inspectors spend 50% or more of their working hours traveling 1. The widening inspection gap coincides with accelerating food safety failures—this fiscal year has already seen over 480 food recalls announced, surpassing the totals for four of the preceding five years 1.