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.
The fiscal 2026 budget request from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services touches on infant formula, ultra-processed foods, and other HHS priorities that Food Safety Magazine has reported on.
The pause comes in the form of a temporary restraining order that Judge Susan Illston says she granted so as to “protect the power of the legislative branch.”
Announcement comes on heels of April 22 press conference regarding the agency’s focus on phasing out petroleum-based synthetic dyes in the nation’s food supply.
On May 2, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget sent a discretionary budget request for fiscal year 2026 from the Trump Administration to Congress. The request includes funds to build up the MAHA Commission.
According to the New York Times and CBS News, some fired FDA food safety scientists and terminated FDA food safety labs are being reinstated, as well as several dozen inspectoral support staff, following mass layoffs handed down from the Trump Administration.
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) has withdrawn the long-awaited proposed regulatory framework for Salmonella in raw poultry, which was designed to reduce the cases of human salmonellosis attributable to poultry consumption, saying that additional consideration is needed based on public comments.
In an April 22 press conference, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary announced FDA's plan to work with industry to phase out synthetic, petroleum-based dyes from the nation’s food supply.
