U.S. Courts News Reporter
The FDA is delaying enforcement of the Food Traceability Rule, which has been in the works for 14 years, by another 30 months.
In an announcement on March 20, the Food and Drug Administration said it intends to publish a proposed rule “at a later time.” The rule has already been published and approved and was set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2026. The rule was mandated by the Food Safety Modernization Act, which Congress approved in 2010.
The … Read the rest
— OPINION —
The Department of Government Efficiency has cut staff at the Food Administration, including empoyees in food safety roles.
Following the cuts, Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Jim Jones resigned his post citing the cuts as being indiscriminate and endangering the lives of the American public.
Before the layoffs, the FDA had 18,000 employees across all 50 states. That number includes staff responsible for reporting on food recalls and the investigation of foodborne illness outbreaks.
Today we hear … Read the rest
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has expressed concern about the ability of local authorities to meet inspection targets and the impact this could have on standards.
Comments were made in written evidence submitted as part of an inquiry looking at whether the local government finance system in England is fit for purpose.
The FSA said it is concerned that local food teams do not have sustainable funding to deliver official controls in line with what the current regulatory regime requires. … Read the rest
— OPINION —
The cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services today make a mockery of the “Make America Healthy Again” slogan by arbitrarily decimating new staff in key public health agencies who might actually implement the slogan.
The firings impact staff across HHS and affect thousands of people on “probationary” status.
The mass firings will undermine the work of two of the agencies that solve and prevent foodborne outbreaks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the … Read the rest
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Justice Elena Kagan’s opinion for a sharply divided court in Pulsifer v. United States resolves an ambiguity in the provisions added to federal sentencing law in the First Step Act of 2018, coming down firmly on the side of the government. The problem involves how to read a “safety valve” in federal criminal sentencing laws, which allows defendants to avoid the often lengthy mandatory minimum sentences scattered throughout the federal criminal code. The safety valve requires the defendant to … Read the rest
This month, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced the launch of a new website where Kentuckians can easily report foodborne issues.
Before the website, foodborne illness was reported to the district or local health departments by phone. The new website allows for quick and easy reporting by consumers. It also allows state public health officials to get the necessary information more efficiently, enabling quicker action to prevent others from becoming sick.
“Protecting the health and safety of our Kentucky families is … Read the rest
In an effort to help answer the fresh produce industry’s most urgent food safety questions, the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) is funding 14 new research projects, valued at more than $ 3.9 million.
These 14 new projects are aimed at answering industry questions about leafy greens production in controlled environments, evaluating and mitigating risk from Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella, and Cyclospora detection.
Researchers’ proposals were vetted by industry experts on the CPS Technical Committee and other expert volunteers.
One … Read the rest
A committee in the U.S. Senate has finally set a nomination hearing to consider Jose Emilio Esteban for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s top food safety job.
Nominated on Nov. 12, 2021, by President Joe Biden, Esteban is scheduled to go before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry on Sept. 22. The committee has not offered any reason why the nomination hearing has been delayed so long, except for a comment from Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-MI. At one … Read the rest