Changes that align with the Trump administration’s national agenda have come to agencies that regulate food in the United States.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have made staff cuts identified by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is tasked with eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse” in government agencies in order to drive efficiencies and reduce government spending. At USDA, 16,000 employees accepted the agency’s “deferred resignation” offers, while a reported 30,000 positions were to be eliminated. Office closures and relocations also are part of the downsizing effort.
“I welcome DOGE’s efforts at USDA because we know that its work makes us better, stronger, faster and more efficient,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in February. “I will expect full access and transparency to DOGE in the days and weeks to come.”
At FDA, the Health and Human Services Department terminated 3,500 employees on April 1. Included in the reductions were scientists who tested products for adulteration and communications staff tasked with informing consumers about health risks and new products.
Both agencies asked certain professionals to return to work after finding their roles essential to protecting public health. Meanwhile, shifts in policy followed restructuring of the workforces of both USDA and FDA.
The effort to make Americans healthy again will start by addressing childhood chronic illness. (Source: White House)Salmonella framework paused
In April, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) withdrew the proposed “Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products,” which targeted reductions in illnesses associated with poultry products contaminated by the pathogen.
“While FSIS continues to support the goal of reducing Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry products, the agency believes that the comments have raised several important issues that warrant further consideration,” USDA-FSIS said in an unpublished Federal Register notice linked to the agency’s newsletter, the Constituent Update. “Therefore, FSIS is withdrawing the ‘Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products’ proposed rule and proposed determination to allow the agency to further assess its approach for addressing Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry products.”
The agency based its decision to withdraw the proposed framework on feedback received during the public comment period, which closed on Jan. 17, 2025. FSIS said the agency received 7,089 comments on the proposed framework during the comment period. Most of the comments were submitted as part of organized letter writing campaigns, while 1,415 were unique comment letters, according to the agency.
“The issues that generated the most comments, both positive and negative, included those associated with FSIS’ legal authority to propose the final product standards, the proposed Salmonella levels and serotypes for the final product standards, the proposed use of SPC monitoring, the scientific and technical information used to support the proposed framework, the potential economic impacts of the proposed framework, and the potential impact of the proposed framework on small poultry growers and processors,” the agency said. “Several comments also suggested alternative approaches other than the proposed framework for addressing Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry products.”
In response, the National Chicken Council (NCC) reiterated the organization’s shared commitment to protecting public health.
“We remain committed to further reducing Salmonella and fully support food safety regulations and policies that are based on sound science, robust data, and are demonstrated to meaningfully impact public health,” said Ashley Peterson, PhD, NCC senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs.
USDA also decided to delay until Nov. 3, 2025, sampling of not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) breaded stuffed chicken products. The agency said the FSIS needed more time to finalize its instructions to inspectors and prepare inspection program personnel (IPP) and laboratories for the new sampling and testing. FSIS also needed more time to provide industry with guidance on holding and controlling products pending sampling results.
FSIS said it will announce in its Constituent Update, information about the methods it will use for qualitative and quantitative analyses for Salmonella in NRTE breaded stuffed chicken before it begins sampling.
“While industry is not required to do their own sampling of NRTE breaded stuffed chicken for Salmonella, some establishments may voluntarily choose to use FSIS’ methods,” the agency said. “Therefore, this additional time will allow industry to prepare for or develop their own testing if they wish to do so.
“Moreover, FSIS laboratories need additional time to prepare for the increased workload. Proper IPP and lab readiness is essential to maintain the accuracy, reliability, and timeliness of test results, which are critical for ensuring food safety and protecting public health.”
States get involved
On May 27, Rollins announced a funding increase of $14.5 million to reimburse state-level meat and poultry inspection programs. The money will provide states that may not have the funds to continue inspection programs to ensure the safety of the food supply chain.
The USDA said the funding is not sustainable moving forward, and policy makers in all departments of federal government need to unite and find ways to keep intact state meat and poultry safety inspection programs. Ted McKinney, chief executive officer of Arlington, Va.-based National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), said “On behalf of the state departments of agriculture, NASDA applauds Secretary Rollins and USDA-FSIS [Food Safety Inspection Service] for providing an additional $14.54 million to increase the reimbursement rate for this critical state cooperative agreement in this fiscal year.
“In recent years, USDA has been providing states with significantly less funding, challenging states’ ability to provide inspection services. Increasing the reimbursement rate for states participating in this cooperative agreement ensures that more efficient processing options for local livestock producers remain in operation, especially for smaller farms.”
$1 billion HPAI battle plan
Outbreaks of animal diseases continued to make headlines as losses due to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and the spread of the disease to humans and milk cows raised concerns of human-to-human transmission developing and leading to a new human pandemic.
In February, Rollins announced a $1 billion plan to weaken the threat of HPAI and mitigate increases in egg prices around the United States. The plan includes $500 million to invest in what USDA calls “gold-standard biosecurity measures.” The agency will expand the Wildlife Biosecurity Assessments designed to safeguard farms from wild bird disease transmission, which is the cause of 83% of the HPAI cases.
The USDA also will provide free audits for producers affected by HPAI. The agency plans to share up to 75% of the costs to address growers’ biosecurity concerns identified by the assessments and audits. And up to $400 million will go to indemnify producers who must depopulate their flock to control HPAI spread.
The USDA is spending $1 billion to address the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza. (Source: MARGJOHNSONVA - STOCK.ADOBE.COM)Foods under fire
Stakeholders in the food manufacturing sector kept a close eye on the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission, formed by an executive order in February and chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The administration seeks to focus efforts on preventive health care versus managing chronic disease.
“To fully address the growing health crisis in America, we must redirect our national focus, in the public and private sectors, toward understanding and drastically lowering chronic disease rates and ending childhood chronic disease,” the executive order said.
“This includes fresh thinking on nutrition, physical activity, healthy lifestyles, overreliance on medication and treatments, the effects of new technological habits, environmental impacts, and food and drug quality and safety.”
The commission’s initial focus is on childhood illness, and in May, the commission released its assessment on the primary drivers of childhood chronic disease.
“Rising rates of childhood chronic disease are likely being driven by a combination of factors, including the food children are eating, the chemicals they are exposed to, the medications they are taking, and various changes to their lifestyle and behavior, particularly those related to physical activity, sleep and the use of technology,” the report said.
The commission’s report noted that nearly 70% of calories in an American child’s diet comes from ultra-processed foods. The commission gave a broad definition of “ultra-processed foods” (UPFs) as being “... high in added sugars, chemical additives, and saturated fats…”
“This modern diet has been linked to a range of chronic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers,” according to the report. “The excessive consumption of UPFs has led to a depletion of essential micronutrients and dietary fiber, while increasing the consumption of sugars and carbohydrates, which negatively affects overall health.”
Three ingredients highlighted in the report are ultra-processed grains, sugars and fats. Other ingredients identified as contributing to the poor health of American children include emulsifiers, binders, sweeteners, colorings and preservatives, specifically, titanium dioxide, propylparaben, butylated hydroxytoluene and artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose and saccharin.
The commission’s report also blamed “The cumulative load of thousands of synthetic chemicals” that children are exposed to through food, water and the air they breathe. These chemicals may pose risks to children’s long-term health and have negative neurodevelopmental and endocrine effects.
Stakeholders in the food industry responded to the MAHA report. The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) agreed that protein from meat should be widely accessible but warned against demonizing agriculture.
“Efforts that not only exclude agriculture’s input but also undermine the work of farmers serving our nation, are misguided and detrimental to all who care about facts and truth,” said Duane Stateler, NPPC president and a pork producer from McComb, Ohio. “Inflammatory rhetoric and distortions, meant to galvanize attention to achieve particular ideological outcomes, are harmful and undermine the world-class safety and reliability of the American food system.
“We urge extreme caution and recognize this as a moment for leadership that not only fosters and maintains trust in the foods we consume but also defends farmers against unwarranted and unfounded attacks.”
