FDA to redo food safety program after formula crisis

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is launching an overhaul of its food safety and nutrition division in the wake of a series of crises including the recent baby formula shortage, the agency announced Tuesday.

• As part of the move, Commissioner Robert Califf said the FDA will combine two separate divisions to create a new human foods program, which will be led by a single deputy commissioner.
• The deputy commissioner will have decision-making authority over policy, strategy and regulatory program activities within the Human Foods Program as well as resource allocation and risk prioritization.

The FDA has long faced criticism that it doesn’t give enough resources to its food safety program. Those shortcomings were exposed last year as an infant formula shortage left parents scrambling.

The change announced Tuesday comes on the heels of a scathing report from the Reagan-Udall Foundation that found the FDA’s food program was too slow and risk-averse, which “compromises the agency’s willingness to act in enforcement or policy development.”