Donald Trump and his acolyte, RFK, Jr., vowed to “Make America Healthy Again.”
They lied.
Watch what they do, not what they say.
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC host
Trump, aided by RFK, Jr., is dismantling the US food safety network
RFK, Jr. fired every single member of FDA’s media communications team, including its director.
The proposed 2026 budget for the FDA outlines plans to shift the responsibility for routine food safety inspections to the states.
The 2026 FDA budget also proposes an overall reduction in full-time equivalent staffing for the Human Foods Program of 7.6%, with the Office of Investigations and Inspections reduced by 2.0%, and the Field Laboratory Operations by 54.4%.
Staff cuts at the FDA have already put the brakes on the agency’s ability to trace the source of foodborne disease outbreaks. In 2024, the agency investigated a total of 26 outbreaks and identified the source of 20 (77%). In 2025, the FDA has closed its investigation of 11 outbreaks after identifying the source of only 4 (36%); an additional 11 investigations remain under investigation, with a food source having been identified in four (36%).
The USDA withdrew its proposed rule that, for the first time, would have placed (very lenient) limits on the presence of certain Salmonella strains in raw poultry.
The US Justice Department unit that used to handle drug and food safety cases on behalf of the FDA has been disbanded.
The EPA has rolled back clean air standards and eased limits on pesticide use.
What can US consumers expect as a result of these roll-backs?
More foodborne disease, including more hospitalizations and deaths
More outbreaks going unreported and unsolved
Inconsistent food safety inspection standards from state to state
I have been a food safety microbiologist for more than fifty years. I have worked both in government and in the private sector.
During my entire career, I have advocated for a single agency to oversee food safety—an agency with Cabinet-level representation that would replace the current fragmented regulatory system in the United States.
But desperate times require desperate measures. The federal government is not doing its job. Nor does it plan to in the future.
States can—and must—act
The various states that have the resources to do so must take action to protect their population from the failures of the federal government.
Democrat-led states on both coasts have already acted to counter the CDC vaccine panel’s new recommendations that would restrict access to respiratory (Covid-19, influenza, and RSV), MMRV, and Hepatitis B vaccines.
The West Coast Alliance is comprised of California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii. The Northeast Public Health Collaborative includes New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island, as well as New York City’s Department of Health.
If a state government can override federal recommendations on vaccine access, the state also can superimpose its own food safety regulations on those handed down by the FDA and USDA in order to protect its population from disease.
I propose that the West Coast Alliance be extended to encompass food safety, including the following actions:
Develop and implement a common set of inspection standards for produce and processed foods originating in California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii.
Embargo all shipments of produce and processed foods originating from outside the borders of its member states unless each individual shipment is accompanied by a Certificate of Analysis issued by an accredited laboratory.
Regulate discharge emanating from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in the member states—discharge that pollutes the soil in which crops are grown and the water used to irrigate those crops.
I am not suggesting these actions will be easy or inexpensive. But, as the federal government no longer appears to be interested in protecting the public from unsafe food, the states that are able to do so must take over.
“Reads like a true crime novel” – Food Safety News
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.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced this morning that 10,000 permanent jobs would be cut from the agencies under its control, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The new cuts are in addition to the 10,000 people already fired or bought out through early retirement packages.
The combined cuts has reduced the workforce of HHS by almost 25%.
The cuts are to be accompanied by a consolidation of the department’s various divisions from 28 down to 15.
What is being cut
The largest reduction will be felt at the FDA, which will lose an additional 3500 full-time employees out of what had been a workforce of approximately 18,000 people under the Biden administration.
The CDC will lose an additional 2400 employees, and the NIH will lose 1200.
According to the Fact Sheet accompanying the news release, “The consolidation and cuts are designed not only to save money, but to make the organization more efficient and more responsive to Americans’ needs, and to implement the Make America Healthy Again goal of ending the chronic disease epidemic.”
What does this mean for food safety?
The goal of ending the chronic disease epidemic is laudable, and a review of the safety of food additives, artificial colors, and other non-essential ingredients is long overdue.
However, the FDA is being tasked with undertaking a major new program while at the same time digesting a major reduction in workforce.
Something’s got to give.
So far, there have been no specifics given as to what personnel will be cut within the FDA. Will it be laboratory services? Inspection staff? Research teams?
Just the latest in a series of questionable actions
The US food safety and disease prevention systems are under attack. Consider this partial list:
RFK, Jr., the HHS Secretary, has suggested allowing the bird flu epidemic to run its course in order to identify immune birds. He’s had some support from the Secretary of Agriculture for this approach. The virus already has jumped from poultry to dairy cattle and to a myriad of small mammals (including domestic and farm cats). Imagine the increased opportunity for mutations if the virus is allowed to spread unchecked.
RFK, Jr. encouraged the use of cod liver oil or vitamin A supplements as an alternative to vaccination to prevent the spread of measles, taking out of context studies conducted in low-income countries where vitamin A deficiency is common. As a result, doctors in Texas are encountering children suffering from vitamin A overdoses.
The NIH is ending grants for Covid-19 research, including the development of antiviral drugs.
The US government has arranged to purchase eggs from Turkey in order to bring down the price of eggs in the US, even though Turkey has a documented high level of Salmonella and bird flu contamination in its eggs, thus exposing US consumers to increased risk of infection with these pathogens.
The CDC has pulled $11 billion in funding to state and local health departments across the US. The funds were earmarked for Covid testing, vaccination, and related programs.
The NIH is terminating grants for programs to study vaccine hesitancy and to encourage vaccine uptake. This is directly in line with RFK, Jr.’s widely publicized vaccine skepticism.
The Trump administration has withdrawn from the World Health Organization and has terminated USAID programs that funded vaccination efforts in third-world countries.
And there will be more to come. While claiming to attack chronic diseases, the actions taken so far are making the US population more susceptible to the spread of acute illnesses. If this keeps up, I predict a noticeable rise in child mortality rates and infectious disease outbreaks across the USA.
“Reads like a true crime novel” – Food Safety News
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.
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?
FDA’s food program now a headless snake
Just as the body of a rattlesnake will continue to writhe after it is has been decaptitated, the FDA’s human food program will muddle on for a while.
eFoodAlert 