MONTEREY, Calif. - Fresh-spinach packaging plants were inspected only half as often as they should have been, said a congressional report released last week.

And when objectionable conditions were found, no enforcement action was taken by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the five years leading up to the September 2006 E. coli bacteria outbreak that sickened hundreds, caused three deaths and resulted in a spinach recall, the report said.

The report, "FDA and Fresh Spinach Safety," was prepared for Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., chairwoman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, based on a review of FDA records from 2001 to 2007.