The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced a major restructuring that includes the firing of 10,000 employees across all its departments. FDA and CDC will lose 3,500 and 2,400 current staffers, respectively. HHS says FDA food reviewers and inspectors will not be affected.
California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel has introduced a bill that aims to define and identify “ultra-processed foods” so that they can be phased out of state public schools.
Consumer Reports recently released a report revealing the “most contaminated” poultry plants in the U.S., based on an analysis of USDA-FSIS Salmonella testing data.
FDA is launching “Operation Stork Speed,” comprising a series of actions like increased contaminant testing, to better ensure the safety and adequacy of the U.S. infant formula supply. Consumer Reports, which says Operation Stork Speed was announced one day after it shared contaminant testing results with the agency, has questioned whether FDA is adequately resourced to deliver on its new promises.
Two key advisory committees, responsible for providing impartial scientific advice to federal public health agencies (USDA, FDA, CDC) relative to food safety, have been terminated: the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) and National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI).
Major public health, food industry, and consumer protection groups have stated concerns about the recent mass firing of FDA Human Foods Program staff and the resignation of Deputy Commissioner Jim Jones, expressing that layoffs could jeopardize food safety and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda.
In response to USDA-FSIS’s proposed regulatory framework for Salmonella in raw poultry products, Consumer Reports has called the agency’s suggested enforceable standards “too lax,” and suggests specific changes, such as including S. Infantis as a serotype of public health concern.
After consumer groups petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to remove Lunchables from the National School Lunch Program due to toxic contaminants in September 2024, Kraft Heinz, the makers of Lunchables, voluntarily decided to pull its meal kits from the program.
Consumer Reports has delivered a petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the agency to ban red dye 3 in foods, and are cautioning the public about certain Halloween candies containing the colorant.
Consumer Reports and More Union have petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to remove Lunchables food kits from the National School Food Lunch Program due to what the groups perceive as relatively high levels of lead and cadmium, as well as the presence of phthalates.
