The rate of inspections has gotten markedly worse amid those reductions, with foreign food safety inspections falling by 29% from 2024. About a third of FDA inspections of foreign firms for foodborne hazards over the last decade found violations, inspection data show. The Food Safety Modernization Act, or FSMA, set a rising annual target for foreign inspections, capping it at 19,200 in 2016. "They have worked very hard to try to come up with alternatives to doing those foreign inspections." "The food industry is very good in terms of food safety overall if you think of how much food we eat," said Dr. Kali Kniel, chair of microbial food safety at the University of Delaware.