The FDA already contracts with 43 states and Puerto Rico to do some routine inspections. States have handled about one-third of routine inspections in recent years, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

Food safety inspections would be left to state and local authorities under the plan being developed by the FDA.

The Food and Drug Administration is suspending a quality control program for its food testing laboratories as a result of staff cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.