The FDA reached a major milestone when it approved its reorganization and created its new, unified Human Foods Program (HFP).
It is one of the most significant reorganizations in the history of the FDA.
The new field operations model and other major modernization efforts are just days away, with an implementation date of October 1.
It came about in part because former Food Safety News writer Helena Bottemiller Evich dropped a bombshell entitled “The FDA’s Food Failure” just before leaving Politico.
Evich, who continues to write about food policy for the subscription-based Food Fix, published the critical report in April 2022. The FDA has been working on its “fix” ever since.
The reforms began when Jim Jones joined the FDA in September 2023 as the agency’s first deputy commissioner for human nutrition.
In this new executive position, reporting directly to the FDA Commissioner, Jones led the charge in setting and advancing priorities for a proposed, unified Human Foods Program (HFP), which includes food safety, chemical safety and nutrition activities.
Jones came to the FDA with intimate knowledge of the food program, having served on the FDA The Reagan-Udall Foundation Independent Panel of Expertswho evaluated it in 2022.
According to the FDA, the new Human Foods Program “will specifically enhance the agency’s ability to monitor the human food supply and other products that the FDA regulates.”
The reorganization will enable the FDA to be more efficient, agile, and prepared for the ever-changing and complex industries we regulate, new food technologies, and the impacts of globalization, climate change, and other factors that require the agency to quickly adapt must adjust.
The FDA says it is focused on transforming the agency to be more efficient, agile and future-proof with the ever-changing and complex industries we regulate, including the emergence of new food technologies, the impacts of globalization, climate change and climate change. other factors that require the FDA to quickly adapt to an evolving world.
In January 2023, the FDA announced that it would develop a reorganization proposal to establish a unified Human Foods program and restructure its field operations (Office of Regulatory Affairs), after careful review of the findings and recommendations of the review and evaluation from the Reagan-Udall Foundation. internal assessment of the agency’s infant formula response and feedback from external and internal stakeholders.
The FDA completed the proposed reorganization package in December 2023. After undergoing a formal external review process required for all federal reorganizations, the FDA received approval of the reorganization package in May 2024. The reorganization is considered final and the FDA plans to close it on October 1, 2024.
The changes in the reorganization will allow the agency to:
- More effectively realizing the preventive vision in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.
- Increase the importance of nutrition to help reduce diet-related diseases.
- Strengthen state partnerships and embrace innovative food and agricultural technologies, which will enable the agency to more effectively regulate and maintain the security of the nation’s food supply.
- Allow FDA to make additional improvements to modernize and strengthen the entire agency so it can work cohesively and collaboratively to accomplish its public health mission.
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