Happy Friday, and welcome to Food Fix. I have no idea how it’s almost March. My baby is nearly ten months old. Time is flying!
Food Fix on the Late Show: Thanks to the readers who flagged that this newsletter was cited by Stephen Colbert in his opening monologue of the Late Show last week! (Just after the 5 min mark.)
Food Fix on the pods: I recently joined the Flipping the Table podcast with Michael Reid Dimock to discuss Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Brooke Rollins, and the possibility of realignment around food policy. We also discussed the long arc of food issues in Washington, D.C.
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Helena
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The Trump administration fired — then rehired — FDA’s lead on infant formula safety
The Trump administration fired and subsequently rehired the person in charge of infant formula safety at FDA, per sources familiar — the latest example of a disruptive government layoff that had to be walked back.
The Office of Critical Foods (OCF) is a relatively new division within FDA that was created by Congress in response to the agency’s mishandling of the 2022 infant formula crisis, something I covered extensively at the time. The office oversees infant formula and medical foods, which includes specialty formulas for individuals with serious metabolic diseases, and is supposed to keep Congress informed about safety or supply issues.
The acting director of OCF, as it’s known within the agency, had been on the job for less than a year and was inadvertently swept up in the mass DOGE layoffs that targeted probationary employees. The individual has not been publicly announced by the agency, but I’m told they are a neonatologist and a veteran.
Asked about the firing and rehiring, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said the agency had no comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wa.), one of the key lawmakers behind legislation to create the new infant formula office, expressed outrage over the move. “Recklessly firing—and then scrambling to rehire—staff who make sure the infant formula babies consume is safe tells you everything you need to know about Donald Trump and Elon Musk‘s priorities,” Murray said in a statement to Food Fix.
Food chem backtrack: On a related note, the FDA’s foods program has also been calling back at least some of the staff who worked on food chemical issues, after many of them were fired in the DOGE layoffs. The division handling post-market assessment of food chemicals was particularly hard hit, as I reported last week, something many FDA watchers found head-scratching considering HHS Secretary Kennedy’s focus on food chemicals. (This news was first reported by the Associated Press).
Reversing DOGE: FDA is far from the only agency that’s had to call back fired employees. USDA is scrambling to bring back experts hired to help with the government’s bird flu response. The Department of Energy had to call back hundreds of employees charged with managing the nuclear arsenal. The Department of Veterans Affairs brought back a number of employees, including some that worked for the Veterans Crisis Line.
Still, firing infant formula staff is a shocking move in the wake of the infant formula crisis, which was both a major public health concern and a political calamity for the Biden administration. I talked to Jim Jones after he resigned as FDA deputy commissioner for human foods earlier this month, and he told me that infant formula was the first thing the Trump transition officials asked about.
“The very first question that the transition people asked me about was: Are we OK on infant formula?” Jones said. “I truthfully answered ‘yes, I think we’re in good shape.’ But that was before they let go one of the key people.”
Jones told me it was his understanding that policy leaders within HHS had tried to blunt the overall impact of the DOGE layoffs without much success: “I don’t think the policymakers were behind the terminations. It was DOGE. I think the policymakers couldn’t hold them back. I think they tried, I think the HHS and FDA political acting leadership tried very hard to reign it in.”
“I think there’s this conflict between DOGE and the policymakers that will be interesting to watch play out,” he added.
DOGE vs. the Cabinet: We’re already seeing this tension start to play out. Elon Musk, the leader of DOGE, who the White House now claims is not in charge, recently demanded that all government employees reply to a mass email they received asking for a list of five things they’d accomplished the week prior. The subject line was: “What did you do last week?”
Musk said in a post on X that “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” (Weirdly the email itself did not include the same threat.) In any case, top officials within FDA and USDA have advised employees that they do not need to reply to the email (the same happened across other agencies as well).
The guidance from HHS sent via email reads: “There is no HHS expectation that HHS employees respond to [the Office of Personnel Management] and there is no impact to your employment with the agency if you choose not to respond.” In other words: You don’t have to listen to Elon.
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What I’m reading
Senate HELP Committee to Hold Confirmation Hearing on Nomination for FDA Commissioner (Senate). “On Thursday, March 6, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Dr. Martin Makary to be Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.”
Trump administration struggles to rehire fired bird flu employees (Politico). “The Trump administration touted a nearly $1 billion plan Wednesday to combat the spread of avian flu and mitigate skyrocketing egg prices as the outbreak rips through poultry flocks across the United States,” reports Marcia Brown. “The measures come as the Agriculture Department is struggling to rehire key employees working on the virus outbreak who were fired as part of the administration’s sweeping purge of government workers. Roughly a quarter of employees in a critical office testing for the disease were cut, as well as scientists and inspectors. The dismissals have already helped trigger a partial shutdown at one of the department’s research facilities, according to two USDA employees, interrupting some workers’ efforts to fight bird flu and help livestock recover from illness. Now, agency officials are running into logistical challenges in reinstating its bird flu staff — and convincing them to return to jobs while the president repeatedly attempts to squeeze government workers.”
Kennedy praises fast food chain’s efforts to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ after it ‘RFK’d’ its fries (Politico). “Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised fast food chain Steak ‘n Shake on Thursday, highlighting the restaurant’s french fries as part of his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda,” reports Amanda Friedman. “‘Congratulations @SteaknShake for being the first national fast-food chain to begin the transition away from seed oils,’ Kennedy — who was recently sworn in to lead the Department of Health and Human Services — wrote in a Thursday post to X. ‘Thanks for leadership in the crusade to Make America Healthy Again.’ Steak ‘n Shake announced Monday in an X post that the chain’s Ohio, Colorado, Florida, Texas and Oklahoma locations started making fries with 100 percent beef tallow, and the change will be implemented at all locations by March 1.” (Note: Kennedy’s tweet has since been deleted.)
Artificial food dyes would be banned in school food under advancing WV Senate bill (West Virginia Watch). “Artificial food dyes would be banned in school meals according to a bill advancing in the West Virginia Senate,” reports Amelia Ferrell Knisely. “The potential cost for public schools is unknown as the bill didn’t include financial impact information. Fayette County Schools Nutrition Director Andrew Pense told lawmakers Thursday that he wasn’t concerned about the price or his ability to find replacement foods. ‘About 30 products would be impacted,’ he said. ‘I fully support this bill.’ The measure, Senate Bill 545, bans a list of food additives like Red No. 40 and blue, yellow and green dyes in meals served in schools. The dyes, typically added for coloring in processed foods, are ‘deemed unsafe’ in the bill language. The Senate Health Committee approved the legislation after hearing from a lineup of national and West Virginia-based speakers who said artificial food dyes were unsafe and unnecessary for children and adults.”
New bills aim to reshape Texans’ diets under ‘Make Texas Healthy Again’ plan (KVUE). “Republican state lawmakers introduced a package of bills on Tuesday that they said would make Texans healthier,” Daniel Perreault reports. “The legislation proposes new restrictions on SNAP benefits, bans certain products in school lunches and requires new warning labels on some items. This is an extension of a push we are starting to see from the federal government and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He has called for restrictions on ultra-processed foods and food additives and has said they are ‘poisoning’ Americans. Senate Bill 25 has the lowest bill number of the three in the legislation package and is a priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate. The bill expands physical education requirements for sixth, seventh and eighth grades to participate in physical activity for at least 30 minutes, for at least six semesters, at those grade levels as part of the district’s P.E. curriculum. It would also require nutrition education for all Texas physicians, medical students or residents. Senate Bill 314 by State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) would ban certain additives in free or reduced school lunches and the breakfast program. State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) has filed Senate Bill 379, which would prevent SNAP benefits from being used on food and drinks with little to no nutritional value, such as soda, energy drinks, candy, potato chips and cookies.”
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins: My Plan to Lower Egg Prices (Wall Street Journal). “Egg prices are skyrocketing, and it isn’t simply a matter of inflation,” Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture, writes in the Wall Street Journal’s Opinion section. “This matters for American families because eggs are a healthy, accessible and generally affordable source of protein. In many cases, families are seeing prices of $6, $7, $10 or more. This is due in part to continuing outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza, which has devastated American poultry farmers and slashed the egg supply over the past two years. The Biden administration did little to address the repeated outbreaks and high egg prices that followed. By contrast, the Trump administration is taking the issue seriously. To that end, today I am announcing a comprehensive strategy to combat avian influenza. The Agriculture Department will invest up to $1 billion to curb this crisis and make eggs affordable again. We are working with the Department of Government Efficiency to cut hundreds of millions of dollars of wasteful spending. We will repurpose some of those dollars by investing in long-term solutions to avian flu, which has resulted in about 166 million laying hens being culled since 2022. There’s no silver bullet to eradicating avian flu. That’s why we have developed a five-pronged strategy.”
Food restrictions for Iowans on SNAP benefits advances in Iowa House (SiouxlandProud). “An Iowa House subcommittee moved forward a bill on Wednesday afternoon that would limit foods that can be purchased through the supplemental nutrition assistance program,” Zach Fisher reports. “‘I don’t have time to list all the foods that this bill would ban but its effectively two thirds of the grocery store,’ said Luke Elzinga, the policy and advocacy manager for DMARC United. ‘Over 60% of SNAP participants report the affordability of healthy foods is a barrier to achieving a healthy diet throughout the month,’ said Cyndi Pedersen, a lobbyist for Iowa Hunger Coalition. There were also concerns for grocery stores having to abide by these more reduced lists, as employees would have to confirm the items being purchased through the SNAP program would lineup with state law. There is a portion of the bill that everyone agrees with, which is the double up food bucks’ program. The bill adds an appropriation of $1 million to expand access for Iowans to get fresh fruits and vegetables. But a majority of public comment on the bill were against the bill as a whole due to the changes to SNAP.”
America’s food safety is now in the hands of Don Jr.’s hunting buddy (Vanity Fair). “Late last week, amid mass purges of key personnel at the nation’s health agencies, a Florida attorney with a surprisingly slim résumé was named acting deputy commissioner for human foods at the Food and Drug Administration,” writes Katherine Eban. “Kyle Diamantas, 37, will be responsible for ensuring the safety of roughly 80% of the nation’s food supply. The already-overtaxed division is vital to public health, responsible for everything from overseeing the complex manufacturing of infant formula to responding to deadly bacterial contamination and managing food supplies in the wake of hurricanes and floods. Diamantas’s limited experience for such a major regulatory position, when compared with the experience of his predecessor, appears to have been offset by another significant qualification. The young attorney is a friend and hunting buddy of Donald Trump Jr., the president’s firstborn son, Vanity Fair has learned.” (Food Fix reported on Diamantas’ connection to Don Jr. last week.)
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