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Most fresh fruits and vegetables imported into the United States come from foreign facilities that federal inspectors have rarely, if ever, visited, a new investigation finds.

The Washington Post combined U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection and import records to examine the overseas facilities that supply 90% of produce shipments to the country.

The gap is wider for Mexico, the top source of imported produce. The agency has inspected only about 2% of Mexican facilities that ship produce here, reports The Post.

Americans now rely on food imports more than ever. About two decades ago, roughly 17% of fresh vegetables and 46% of fresh fruit came from abroad, The Post noted. Recently, those shares reached 34% and 59%.

Because produce is often eaten raw, germs from dirty water or equipment can go straight to the table.

"We don't have a robust system in place to go verify that these foreign producers are following the rules," Sarah Sorscher, director of regulatory affairs at the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, told The Post.

This summer revealed the risk. Iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico was tied to the nation's largest known outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a gut infection caused by a tiny parasite.

The outbreak sickened 12,883 people in 21 states and put at least 570 in the hospital. Two deaths in Michigan were linked to it.

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