The broad preemption provision in the proposed FDA FRESH Act could dismantle state and local food safety laws without establishing equivalent federal requirements, potentially affecting labeling, contaminant regulations, foodservice/retail, manufacturing, permitting, inspections, and other areas.
The legislation comes ahead of an impending end-of-year deadline set in the FY 2026 appropriations bill that is expected to remove most currently marketed intoxicating, hemp-derived THC beverages from the legal market by the end of 2026 through the closure of a loophole created by the 2018 Farm Bill.
The appropriations bill for FY 2026 prohibits FDA from using federal funds to implement FSMA 204 before the delayed July 2028 compliance date. Earlier implementation of the Traceability Rule could have enabled faster, more effective response to the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to Taylor Farms lettuce.
Democratic Ranking Member Rep. Robert Garcia cited media reports about alleged private meetings between Taylor Farms and White House and FDA officials, the company’s donations to Trump PACs ahead of the Food Traceability Rule delay, and its “contradictory and confusing” public statements about the cyclosporiasis outbreak.
The Keep Food Containers Safe from PFAS Act (H.R. 9593) would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to prohibit food packaging containing intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances, a.k.a. “forever chemicals.”
The Paraquat Prevention Act would cancel all EPA-registered uses of the herbicide and permanently prohibit its reregistration. More than 70 countries, including the EU and China, have banned the domestic use of paraquat, although China still manufactures and exports the chemical to the U.S.
Highlighting contaminated seafood as a particular concern, the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act answers FDA’s request for the authority to destroy food imports that do not pass safety inspections at the border, preventing importers from “port shopping” their unsafe products.
A letter signed by Senator Amy Klobuchar and 24 others asks USDA to consider the impacts of its recently announced plans to restructure and relocate its Research, Education, and Economics Mission Area, including ARS and NIFA.
The bipartisan bill would prohibit the sale of “mislabeled” alternative protein products, requiring such products to bear “accurate” labels that clearly differentiate them from conventional meat and poultry.
The E. coli outbreak involving Raw Farm unpasteurized dairy products has ended with one raw cheese sample matching isolates from a different 2025 outbreak. In an April 29 hearing, Congresspeople questioned whether U.S. Health Secretary Kennedy influenced FDA’s failure to mandate a recall.
