While repeated outbreaks of food poisoning persist in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is underfunded and understaffed to protect consumers, a new government report released on Friday suggests.

The GAO report concluded that the FDA is short of inspectors, staffers, scientists and enforcement at fresh produce processing plants.

The Government Accountability Office said the federal agency is also undecided on what to do in order to improve the situation. "FDA has no formal program devoted exclusively to fresh produce and has not consistently and reliably tracked its fresh produce spending," the report says.

According to the estimates of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 76 million cases of food borne illness occur each year; 300,000 of them require hospitalization and 5,000 people die annually. Nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea count among the symptoms.

Starting the 2006 E. coli outbreak, the FDA concentrated on preventing the increase in the number of cases of food contamination rather than reaction to it.

Following the outbreak, growers and processors from the State of California established their own course of action regarding the production in order to avoid any future loss in consumer confidence, The Associated Press reported. These guidelines have been imposed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

The report also showed that, each year, 25 percent of Americans fall ill from contaminated food, which means an estimated 76 million people.