When seven Democrat senators and one independent sided with the Republican majority to pass a bill meant to end the government shutdown earlier this week, they did so in full knowledge that they were throwing Affordable Care Act premium subsidies under the bus.

Mike Johnson already has signaled that a vote in the Senate in favour of extending those subsidies would not guarantee a vote in the House.

But, did they realize that, by voting for the Republican bill, they were also throwing food safety under the wheels of that same bus?

According to The Lever, as reposted by Bill Marler (tip of the Petri dish lid for finding and sharing this), the Senate-approved language guts funding for certain current and planned FDA programs and Rules.

The Traceability Rule

Ironically, this Rule was first proposed under Trump 1.0 and is designed to simplify the tracing of a food to its source during a recall or foodborne disease outbreak investigation.

The Rule, which was finalized in 2023, requires food manufacturers, processors, packers, etc., “…maintain records containing information on critical tracking events in the supply chain for these designated foods, such as initially packing, shipping, receiving, and transforming these foods.”

The FDA allowed three years (ie., until January 2026) for those affected by the Rule to come into compliance with its requirements.

Last August, the FDA proposed to extend the compliance deadline by 30 months, to July 2028.

A provision of the Senate bill specifies that no funds “…may be used to administer or enforce the ‘Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods,’ published on Nov. 21, 2022.” 

Produce Safety

In 2016, the FDA issued a Final Rule, “Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption” in response to a steady increase in foodborne disease outbreaks linked to contaminated produce.

Compliance dates for this Rule were staggered, with the smallest farms given until 2020 to conform.

The Senate bill just passed PROHIBITS any of the funding made available by the bill from being used to enforce the Produce Safety Rule.

Sodium / Ultraprocessed foods

Finally, in the ultimate irony of the MAHA world, the Senate bill slashes funding for the FDA to develop or administer regulations “…long-term population-wide sodium reduction actions until an assessment is completed on the impact of the short-term sodium reduction targets.” 

Making Americans Sick Again

As it happens, I am in the throes of writing a sequel to my food safety book, TAINTED: From Farm Gate To Dinner Plate, Fifty Years of Food Safety Failures.

The planned title of my new book is, TAINTED II: From Baby Food To Seniors’ Snacks, Making Americans Sick Again.

Watch for it.

Interested in learning more about food safety and the history of foodborne disease outbreaks and investigations?

Click on the link to listen to a short excerpt, then follow the buy links to add a digital, print or audio copy to your personal library.