FDA rapped for declining inspections

The FDA's declining inspections were highlighted in a widely circulated AP story this morning, posted here at the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
The lead paragraph:

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.

.....

Between 2003 and 2006, FDA food safety inspections dropped 47 percent, according to a database analysis of federal records by The Associated Press.
The analysis also shows that there are 12 percent fewer FDA employees in field offices who concentrate on food issues and that safety tests for U.S.-produced food have dropped nearly 75 percent, from 9,748 in 2003 to 2,455 last year, according to the agency's own statistics.


TK: This may not make it any easier to convince consumers that strong federal oversight of produce safety is a step forward.