A lack of funding could slow down the agency's efforts to improve the safety and quality of the food supply, FDA Deputy Commissioner Jim Jones warned Tuesday.
Jones used a speech to the Consumer Federation of America's annual food policy conference to update industry stakeholders and observers on efforts to revamp the agency’s food and nutrition efforts.
The proposal for a unified human foods program was submitted at the end of 2023, and Jones said he hopes to implement it sometime in fiscal year 2024. Still, the agency has taken steps to start building the program.
“Our vision for this work is already taking shape,” Jones said. “We are focused on making food about wellness through ensuring food safety, enhancing food chemical safety and improving nutrition.”
One area the FDA and the industry need to improve is ensuring the quality and safety of imported food, Jones said. Recent incidents like the discovery of lead in cinnamon applesauce demonstrate a need for greater industry awareness of import requirements, and for the FDA to give greater attention to the implementation of its foreign supplier verification program.
Product testing is another safeguard for the food supply, Jones said. FDA has asked Congress for additional authority to require product testing of foods for contaminants, he said.
The agency also is getting ready to implement two rules stemming from the Food Safety Modernization Act, one on agricultural water and the other on traceability. The ag water rule is intended to assess and address potential hazards in water used on produce prior to harvest. The traceability rule is supposed to improve response times to foodborne illness outbreaks.
“There is no question that this is a heavy lift,” Jones said.
FDA also is collaborating with USDA, manufacturers and growers to develop guidance and action levels on lead and other chemicals found in food for babies and young children. Jones said the agency hopes to expand the program beyond baby food and is looking to industry stakeholders to identify other appropriate foods.
Additionally, FDA is crafting a systematic framework and criteria for prioritizing chemicals for reassessments. The human foods program's work on chemical contaminants and food additives will be housed in the Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements and Innovation, Jones said.
The agency is also making progress on nutrition initiatives, like targeting high levels of sodium and added sugars. Overall efforts to improve nutrition among Americans are “one of the best public health interventions for reducing chronic illnesses and premature death,” Jones said.
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In the coming year, FDA will work on two labeling efforts to make it easier for consumers to identify healthy, nutritious foods. These include the finalized definition of the nutrient content claim “healthy” and a healthy food symbol to appear on the packaging. The agency is also working on a proposed rule for front-of-package labeling.
The agency is developing a second set of draft sodium reduction targets, and is reviewing comments on USDA proposed limits on added sugars in school meals.
“We expect that lowering sodium in the food supply will be a gradual, iterative, stepwise process to allow for reformulation and to help consumers palates adjust,” Jones said.
To the room filled with industry researchers and stakeholders, he said the key to the program’s success will be their relationships and ability to share information.
“We each bring different tools, information and resources, which if we work together we can use to make a difference in the health and well-being of our fellow Americans,” Jones said. “This doesn't mean we'll agree on everything. Differences of opinions and strategies are inherent in these types of conversations. But by coming together and finding common ground, we're in a much better position to identify solutions that work for as many entities as possible.”
One barrier to all these developments is the budget available to get it all done. Jones said the funding available, especially for nutrition initiatives, is modest.
Barbara Kowalcyk, Food Health Policy Institute, George Washington UniversityAnother key challenge in revamping how the FDA addresses food will be shifting the overall mentality and culture within the staff, according to industry stakeholders and researchers who participated in a panel discussion at CFA’s conference.
Within the agency there’s a mentality that food should be regulated the same way as drugs, when they are very different “beasts,” said Barbara Kowalcyk, director of the Food Health Policy Institute at George Washington University. She currently chairs the FDA Science Board, a federal advisory committee.
A study by the Reagan-Udall Foundation found that a lack of clearly defined leadership has hampered the FDA’s work in food and nutrition, as displayed by an infant formula shortage in 2022.
The panel members largely lauded the efforts underway to reorganize the program, including the consolidation of leadership under Jones, the new deputy commissioner for human foods. However, the panel members echoed his concerns that funding limitations will restrict efforts to monitor imports and carry out other initiatives.
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