US food safety takes yet another hit

The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has hammered another nail into the coffin that holds the remains of the US food safety system.

The FSIS has run away from its proposed rule to limit Salmonella contamination in raw poultry, bowing to opposition from the US poultry industry. The notice of withdrawal appeared in the April 25, 2025 issue of the Federal Register.

The proposed rule, which had been in the works for three years and was published in the Federal Register on August 7, 2024, would have defined as adulterated raw chicken carcasses, chicken parts, comminuted chicken, and comminuted turkey products contaminated with certain Salmonella levels and serotypes.

The August 2024 proposal represented nothing more than a first baby step toward controlling Salmonella in raw poultry in the US, focusing primarily on just five of the more than 2400 known serotypes, and only requiring action on other serotypes if they are present at a concentration of more than 10 viable microbes per gram or milliliter of sample.

Compare this to countries such as France, where the presence in raw poultry at any level of any Salmonella serotype is grounds for a recall.

Is this reversal of a proposed minimal control over Salmonella in raw poultry a precursor to the abandonment of other regulatory policies relating to microbiological adulteration of raw meats and poultry?

Will FSIS withdraw its rule limiting Salmonella in raw, breaded poultry products?
Will FSIS withdraw its rule declaring E. coli O157:H7 and several other shiga toxin-producing E. coli serotypes to be adulterants in raw meat?
Will FSIS withdraw its rule mandating HACCP-style food safety programs in the meat and poultry industry?

I hope not.

Here is a list of some of the other steps reported to have been taken by the FDA in the administration’s quest to deregulate food safety and decimate accumulated decades of expertise in the agency.

Communications teams at the FDA—CUT
FOIA response teams at the FDA—CUT
FDA milk quality testing program—CUT
Responsibility for FDA routine inspections likely to be shifted to individual states—whether or not the states have the budget or the expertise to carry the inspections out according to FDA requirements
FDA’s laboratory proficiency testing program—SUSPENDED
FDA research into methods for detecting bird flu in milk, cheese, and pet foods—CUT
Personnel at two FDA labs—Moffett Lab in Chicago and the Alameda lab in the San Francisco area—were fired; some have been rehired after it was determined they were fired in error.

Meanwhile, the FDA is investigating two new outbreaks of Salmonella Enteritidis infections, totaling 72 cases so far. The source(s) of the outbreaks have not yet been determined; however, Salmonella Enteritidis is a common contaminant in raw poultry and raw eggs. If eggs from Turkey are the source, will we ever be told?

TAINTED formats 3 — “Reads like a true crime novel” – Food Safety News

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Chapter 6. Birth of a Pathogen

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FDA is now a black box

The FDA communications teams have been trashed by the Trump administration. Likewise, the Freedom of Informaction Act (FOIA) response teams and policy teams.

What does this mean for public health and food safety?

Siobhan DeLancey, a 21-year veteran of the FDA, who for the last several years managed communications for the agency’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), didn’t mince words in her recent Opinion piece in Food Safety News.

There will be no more safety alerts, no bird flu updates, no information detailing what we’re doing about PFAS. No leverage to spur a recalcitrant company to do the right thing. No news about pesticides or antimicrobial use.

She went on to say,

[G]ood luck relying on a timely response to your FOIA request to reveal the inner working of the agency or gleaning information from the Federal Register. Guidances for Industry on how to comply with the law? Doubt you’ll see many in the next four years, and even if one gets through deregulation, how will you know?

On April 22, 2025, pet food safety advocate, Sue Thixton, reported in Truth About Pet Food that a pet owner had arranged for two samples of Answers Pet Food to be tested for the presence of gentamicin by an independent laboratory.

Gentamicin is an antibiotic whose use is discouraged in cattle due to its long retention time in animal tissue. The US Federal Register does not cite a permitted level of gentamicin in beef tissue. Canada lists a maximum residue limit of 0.1 parts per million (ppm) in muscle of cattle.

One of the samples—ANSWERS PET FOOD STRAIGHT BEEF—was found by the lab to contain 320.6 ppm of gentamicin. The second sample—Answers Pet Food Detailed Beef—contained 76.2 ppm.

According to Thixton’s post, multiple pets became very ill, but survived. She added, “It is unknown if a recall will be issued on these products.”

The following day, Answers Pet Food posted a multi-paragraph rebuttal on its Facebook page, calling the pet owner’s claim “baseless.”

Why is this story relevant?

Prior to January 22, 2025, when Trump took office, it would have been possible to contact the CVM communications team by email or phone, find out whether or not the agency was aware of the situation and, if necessary, point them to the posted report.

On several occasions in the past, eFoodAlert has done exactly that, with the result that a problem of which the CVM was previously unaware became flagged for follow-up.

One such occasion was the concern raised by multiple pet owners early in 2024 about Purina pet foods.

Now this avenue no longer exists.

There is no longer any way of communicating informally with the CVM or with other areas within the FDA.

There is no longer any way of learning in a timely fashion whether the CVM knows about this incident.

Even if the CVM investigates and discovers a problem, unless the company recalls the product, there will be no alert to consumers, because there is no one left to write the notice.

While it may still be possible to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to learn whether other pet owners have reported similary issues or whether there was an inspection of the manufacturing facility, the chances of receiving a timely response to such a request have dropped to nil, due to lack of personnel.

A final word

I have had dealings with Siobhan DeLancey and various other members of the FDA’s communications teams for almost two decades. I have always found them to be professional, thoroughly invested in the importance of their work, and eager to furnish whatever information and explanations permitted within the bounds of confidentiality requirements.

Without the assistance of Siobhan and her colleagues, and without the work of the FOIA teams, I never would have been able to research and write my two food safety books.

I shall leave the final word to Siobhan (again, from her Food Safety News piece):

We should all be frightened when the ability to communicate is taken away. The administration has become braver about suing or otherwise intimidating news media that run stories counter to its narrative. Now, it’s muzzling its own public servants. How long before it comes for you?

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.

Chapter 6. Birth of a Pathogen

Order TAINTED now from your preferred on-line retailer

“A complete and compelling account of the hidden and not-so-hidden ways the food we give our beloved pets can be contaminated.” – JoNel Aleccia, Health Reporter, Food & Nutrition, The Associated Press.

“An invaluable resource for busy pet owners” – Food Safety News

Order TOXIC now from your preferred on-line retailer

‘Indiscriminate’ layoffs at FDA prompt food head to resign

February 18, 2025

Jim Jones, the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, resigned in protest yesterday after dozens of staff members were terminated over the holiday weekend.

In his letter of resignation, quoted in part on several news sites, Jones pointed out that the fired employees were individuals with “highly technical expertise in nutrition, infant formula, food safety response,” and included ten staffers responsible for reviewing potentially unsafe ingredients in food.

A dollop of history

During the first Trump administration, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb eliminated the position of Deputy Commissioner for Food, resulting in a fragmention of responsibilities and authority within this important sector of the FDA.

The 2022 Cronobacter sakazakii outbreak that was linked to Abbott Nutrition’s powdered infant formula products exposed serious flaws in the FDA’s organization and reporting structures.

In February 2023, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf revealed a rough plan for reorganizing the food side of the agency, including restoring the position of Deputy Commissioner for Human Food.

Jim Jones assumed that post in September 2023 with a mandate to implement the restructuring program.

It makes no sense

The Cronobacker sakazakii outbreak occurred in part because the FDA did not have enough trained personnel to provide effective oversight of the infant formula industry.

How does it make sense to terminate staffers with special expertise in infant formula oversight?

RFK, Jr., the newly confirmed Secretary for Health and Human Services, has touted his support for healthy eating, for reducing the number of additives in foods, and for tackling the role of processed foods in childhood obesity.

How does it make sense to terminate staffers with expertise in nutrition?

The FDA food safety investigation staff already was spread thin, and recalls and foodborne illnesses were up in 2024 over the previous year.

How does it make sense to terminate food safety response staffers?