On April 8, 2025, a coalition of 24 food industry and consumer protection organizations, as well as seven expert individuals, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins urging her to reinstate two key federal food safety scientific advisory committees, the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) and the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI).

In March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it would be eliminating NACMCF and NACMPI, which are made up of volunteer experts representing industry, consumers, public health, and academia. The purpose of the committees was to provide impartial, scientific advice and recommendations to USDA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on microbiological issues relative to food safety (NACMCF) and federal and state inspection program activities (NACMPI).

The April 8 letter to Secretary Rollins emphasized that the budgets for these volunteer committees are a drop in the bucket compared to their positive public health impact, with NACMCF and NACMPI costing taxpayers $225,000 and $75,000, respectively.

“For decades, the work of NACMCF has been widely influential and referenced within many other documents, policies, and programs,” the letter argues. “The vetting process for NACMCF and NACMPI members is rigorous, ensuring appropriate range of perspectives to avoid the undue influence of any particular stakeholder group. These principles—reliance on science over politics, transparency, and efficiency—are consistent with the [Presidential] Administration's priorities. The void left by the absence of these committees will limit our public health and food safety agencies from responding to future crises or, better yet, preventing them from happening in the first place.”

The April 8 letter to Sec. Rollins follows another letter written in March by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), which also urged the reinstatement of NACMCF and NACMPI, and questioned why the committees were terminated on the grounds of reducing federal bureaucracy when the committee members were non-government volunteers, and considering the modest budget allocated for the committees.

Most recently, prior to its elimination, NACMCF was working on advice related to significant and deadly foodborne illness outbreaks, to prevent similar issues for reoccurring. Specifically, NACMCF was charged with reviewing USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Services’ (FSIS’) regulatory approach for Listeria monocytogenes, prompted by the fatal listeriosis outbreak linked to Boar’s Head deli meats that occurred in the latter half of 2024. Other issues NACMCF was addressing included Cronobacter in powdered infant formula for FDA, following the infant formula safety and supply crisis of 2022.

The coalition of stakeholders highlighted in their letter to Sec. Rollins the impactful work that NACMCF and NACMPI conducted in the past. For example, NACMCF provided foundational scientific guidance leading to the adoption of the pivotal Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system, and in general, NACMCF’s guidance on pathogen testing protocols, microbial risk assessment, and microbiological standards have directly enhanced regulatory effectiveness and industry practices. Moreover, NACMPI has strengthened inspection processes by informing USDA’s regulatory updates on inspection modernization, and the committee’s input has also facilitated more streamlined federal-state inspection coordination.

Among others, the letter was signed by notable industry voices like Center for Food Safety, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Consumer Brands Association, Consumer Reports, the Public Interest Research Group, and STOP Foodborne Illness, as well as prominent foodborne illness personal injury attorney Bill Marler, J.D.; former Director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) Susan Mayne, Ph.D.; and former FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine and 2023 Food Safety Magazine Distinguished Service Award winner Michael Taylor, J.D.