The reorganization of the Food and Drug Administration’s human foods programs was urgently needed and a long-time coming. The full plan still needs to go through review by Office of Management and Budget and then Congress. 

Fortunately, the Department of Health and Human Services and FDA have authority to implement some of the plan in the interim. The first notable sign of change was the appointment of ex-EPA executive, Jim Jones, to the newly created post of Deputy Commissioner for Human Food Programs. 

During a November 2023 webinar with the Alliance for a Stronger FDA (transcript here), the new deputy commissioner talked about his experiences during his first six 6 weeks and outlined many of his priorities going forward.  

Notably, food chemical safety was near the top of his list — which drew strong interest from both consumer and industry groups. 

The deputy commissioner committed to a program just on food chemical safety and the Alliance has scheduled the session for Friday, March 8 at noon EST. Register here.

In his opening remarks to the Alliance, he has promised to address four program areas that are of considerable interest to the stakeholder community: 

• Chemical Review Under HFP
• Post-Market Assessment of Chemicals in the Food Supply (recent announcement)
• PFAS in Food Packaging (recent announcement)
• Closer to Zero

Afterward, there should be more than 30 minutes for moderator and audience questions. 

On behalf of the Alliance, we hope you will be able to join us for this important webinar event.

By Alison Bodor of the American Frozen Food Institute, Thomas Gremillion of the Consumer Federation of America, and Sarah Sorscher of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The authors are members of the board of the Alliance for a Stronger FDA. For any editorial questions, please contact: sgrossman@strengthenfda.org 301-257-9660.