Food Safety

Several weeks after the Trump administration delayed a nationwide menu labeling rule, the House Energy & Commerce health subcommittee announced it will hold a hearing Friday (June 9) to consider Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers' (R-WA) nutrition bill that would alter disclosure requirements for certain food establishments and limit liability for noncompliance with labeling requirements.

President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 budget proposal would cut FDA's human drug program by $307 million in discretionary budget authority, its medical device program by $182 million, its biologics program by $119 million and its food program by $70 million, resulting in cuts to the agency's workforce and programs even if Congress were to go along with Trump's request to double user fees.

President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 budget proposes cutting FDA's discretionary budget authority by $854 million -- a shortfall that Trump says would be made up if lawmakers agree to his request to double user fees, despite the fact lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have to date rejected that proposal.

FDA officially stood up Monday (May 15) an agency-wide plan to move the agency's Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) from a geographic-based model to one focused on product types, explained a Monday memo from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb to agency staff, obtained by Inside Health Policy.

Congressional leaders are pushing a tentative bipartisan fiscal 2017 funding agreement that would give FDA $39 million more than its fiscal 2016 enacted level.

The Trump administration plans to delay implementation of the nationwide menu labeling rule that was set to go into effect May 5, drawing harsh criticism from the top Democrats.

Certain FDA regulations on small food manufacturers and farmers impose excessive and impractical requirements in exchange for little public health protections, the American Herbal Products Association wrote in response to President Donald Trump's request for help in identifying regulations that hurt domestic manufacturing.

FDA should delay by three years the compliance date for changes to the Nutrition Facts Panel to align with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's implementation of the Bioengineered Ingredient Disclosure law, allowing companies to change their labels once rather than twice, the Grocery Manufacturers Association wrote in comments to the Department of Commerce.

The Trump administration is proposing a $40 million cut in FDA appropriations for the remainder of fiscal 2017, driven primarily by reductions in staffing, according to a document obtained by Inside Washington Publishers, which was recently sent to congressional appropriators.