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FDA Spending Freeze Leaves Staffers Feeling ‘Dangerously Unprepared’ for Next Foodborne Illness Outbreak

digital illustration of a cut up credit card — Image credit: macrovector_official via Freepik

Human Foods Program staffers at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have shared with Consumer Reports¹ how a current spending freeze at the agency is affecting their ability to do their jobs, and leaves them feeling “dangerously unprepared” for the next foodborne illness outbreak or food safety emergency.

Amid a tumult of changes at FDA and other federal public health and food safety agencies since the inauguration of President Trump—including mass layoffs and re-hiring sprees, resignations of and replacements for top officials, and cuts to scientific advisory committees—on January 23, 2025, FDA Human Foods Program staffers learned that their government-issued credit cards were suspended until further notice. These staffers told Consumer Reports that the suspension of their credit cards leave them unable to do routine work, like purchasing samples from grocery stores for testing and analysis, or purchasing equipment required for testing. Additionally, their subscriptions to academic and scientific journals have been canceled.¹

Although staffers were told they could ask their higher-ups for emergency exemptions to make some purchases in lieu of using their credit cards, the process for submitting charges is confusing, the criteria for what constitutes an “emergency” is an ever-moving goalpost, and requests can take a week to two weeks to be approved.¹

The staffers told Consumer Reports that these barriers to spending leave them feeling “dangerously unprepared” for the next foodborne illness outbreak or food safety incident. Time is of the essence when responding to foodborne illness outbreaks, and, according to experts, “having to get every travel or purchase expense preapproved through an opaque, multistep process could mean the difference between being able to track down the source of contamination and not being able to,” wrote Consumer Reports’ Lauren Kirchner.¹ Sources close to FDA told Consumer Reports that the time lag is “already impacting the inspection force.”

“We’re doing less testing in general, so there may be more bad products on the shelves, [containing things like] metals, Listeria, and banned colors,” an anonymous FDA scientist told Consumer Reports.¹ “Between the loss of people, and being hamstrung by [the lack of] supplies and research, we can’t protect the American public as well.”

Another anonymous FDA employee told Consumer Reports¹, “Our ability to test for contaminants was already strapped, but now this is just a sledgehammer coming after everything. I don’t think people realize how bad this is. We need to get this out there for there to be some public pressure.”

Even prior to the presidential administration change and subsequent spending freeze, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, James (Jim) Jones, spoke out on several occasions about the already tight budget allocated to the Human Foods Program, and how that affects the program’s ability to adequately protect the safety of the U.S. food supply. Ultimately, Mr. Jones resigned from his position on February 17, after 89 Human Foods Program staffers with highly technical expertise in nutrition, infant formula, and food safety response were “indiscriminately” fired, making him feel as if it were “fruitless” for him to continue in his role.

Reference

Kirchner, L. Consumer Reports. "A Spending Freeze at the FDA Threatens Safety of Food Supply, Current Staffers Say." March 6, 2025. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/fda-spending-freeze-threatens-safety-of-food-supply-a7676246448/.

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The Food Safety Magazine editorial team comprises Bailee Henderson, Director of Content Strategy and news editor ✉, and Adrienne Blume, M.A., Director of Editorial and Industry Engagement.