The United States Food and Drug Administration has announced the suspension of its food-testing quality-control program, citing sweeping staff reductions at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The move affects oversight across a nationwide network of laboratories responsible for safeguarding public health from contaminated food.
The decision comes as up to 20,000 staff are dismissed or resign from federal health agencies, disrupting projects ranging from food safety to avian influenza monitoring. The suspended program plays a key role in maintaining laboratory standards, and its absence raises concerns about potential gaps in food safety surveillance.
Key Food Safety Program Suspended Until at Least Late September
According to Reuters, the FDA’s Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) has put its proficiency testing (PT) program on hold due to critical personnel losses.
The program, designed to ensure testing consistency and accuracy across 170 laboratories, will remain inactive until 30 September at the earliest, following the loss of essential staff including a quality assurance officer, an analytical chemist, and two microbiologists.
In an internal communication seen by Reuters, the FDA acknowledged the “immediate and significant impact” of these reductions, particularly at its Moffett Center—a core facility for food safety efforts. Among the tests now postponed are analyses for the parasite cyclospora in spinach and the herbicide glyphosate in barley.
“These PTs and exercises are critical to demonstrating the competency and readiness of our laboratory network to detect and respond to food safety and food defence events,” the agency stated. Without these assessments, many labs may struggle to maintain accreditation or ensure reliability in results that underpin national food safety policy.
Broader Implications for Food Surveillance and Regulatory Oversight
The suspension of this program reflects wider disruption at the HHS, which oversees agencies such as the FDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institutes of Health. In February, the department announced the termination of 5,200 probationary employees, with further voluntary departures accelerating the upheaval.
A former FDA official told CBS News that the agency was planning to suspend most of its routine food inspections, retaining only higher-risk checks. The Guardian also reports that efforts to improve detection of bird flu in milk, cheese, and pet food were abandoned in early April due to the same resource constraints.
Food safety laboratories depend heavily on federal oversight to uphold quality standards. According to sources cited by Reuters, there are currently no clear alternatives to the FDA’s testing programmes, raising questions over how national food safety will be maintained in the coming months.
Jim Jones, who led the FDA’s food division, resigned earlier this year in protest against the cuts, citing “disdain for the very people” tasked with protecting public health.
