Following the firing of former CDC Director Susan Monarez, Ph.D. on August 27, HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, who has no medical or infectious disease training, has been named CDC Acting Director.
Citing insufficient funding, CDC’s Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) program has reduced surveillance from eight important foodborne pathogens to just two—Salmonella and Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC).
A leaked draft of the second Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Strategy Report has scant new specifics on how the Administration intends to tackle childhood chronic disease, but it outlines an approach that continues to rely on voluntary industry compliance and deregulation for food system reform, which has drawn criticism.
In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to George Misko, a legal expert on the regulation of food and food contact materials, about the recent “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Report calling for changes to the “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) provision, food additives, and food contact materials oversight—and the potential regulatory implications.
On July 29, the Senate confirmed Trump Nominee Susan Monarez, Ph.D. as the new director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She is an immunologist and microbiologist, and the agency’s first non-physician Director in more than 70 years.
In response to FDA’s “Deregulatory Plan,” FMI—The Food Industry Association is urging FDA to make revisions to the “burdensome” Food Traceability Final Rule/FSMA 204, which FDA has already delayed by 30 months.
As part of its “Deregulatory Plan,” FDA is revoking, or will revoke, 52 “obsolete and unnecessary” food Standards of Identity (SOIs) for canned fruits and vegetables, dairy products, baked goods, macaroni products, and other foods. FDA published a direct final rule and two proposed final rules on the subject.
The Senate Committee on Appropriations has approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which would restore some FDA funding and address some effects of the Trump Administration on the agency.
On July 7, Trump nominee Judge Stephen Vaden was sworn in as the Deputy Secretary of USDA. He previously served as General Counsel to USDA and on the U.S Court of International Trade during President Trump’s first term.
Louisiana recently enacted Senate Bill 14, which HHS Secretary Kennedy called a “Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) bill,” targeting more than 40 food ingredients—such as seed oils, food colorings, sweeteners, and other additives—through product label disclosures and public school meal bans.
