With up to 20,000 staff members released to the Ministry of Health and Social Services in the Doge Purge, and with President Trump aimed at reducing $ 40 billion from the agency, the services close each turn. The last victim: a quality control program of Food and Drug Administration in 170 food test laboratories, designed to search for pathogens and other contaminants in what we eat that could lead to a disease, or worse. Reuters reports that the program, which is part of the FDA food intervention network, will be out of service until September 30 at least September 30, which means that there will be no quality control around laboratory tests for spinach or pesticides in barley, among others, by FERN e-mail.
Federal health officials indicate to CBS News that plans are drawn up which divert the surveillance of some of these tasks towards the state and local authorities, although they note that the plans are still underway and may need that the Congress has correctly finance. The FDA already subcontracts certain food inspections of lower level via contracts with more than 40 states and Puerto Rico. Officials say that certain higher risk inspections can remain at the FDA, including annual visits to factories that make infants. CBS notes that it is not clear what will happen with the handful of states that do not have such contracts. Some believe that outsourcing quality control to states may be a good decision, as high -quality inspections can often be made for less money, according to the defenders.
But optimism concerning this proposal comes with warnings. “In theory, relying on states to carry out more routine food inspection work could lead to better food security,” Thomas Gremillion, director of food policy for the Federation of Consumers in America, told CBS. However, “so far, this administration has acted with an reckless contempt on how its policies will affect the detection and prevention of foods of food origin, and everything plans to replace federal food inspectors with another workforce deserves suspicion”. THE New York Times Last month, other food security could be compromised by recent endowment and financing cuts. (RFK Jr. says they want to bring some of the workers from the HHS licensed.)
