Two federal agencies have scaled back or abandoned core food-safety activities this month. The Food and Drug Administration has paused a national laboratory-proficiency program that underpins dairy testing, and the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has withdrawn a planned rule that would have limited Salmonella in raw poultry. Both actions follow budget reductions and policy directives championed by President Donald Trump in his second term. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., meanwhile, is campaigning to loosen long-standing restrictions on the interstate sale of unpasteurized milk. Together, the moves shift responsibility for essential safety checks from federal regulators to states, industry and consumers. ReutersThe Washington Post News-Medical

Background on the FDA milk program

Since 1992 the FDA’s Grade “A” Milk Proficiency Testing Program has verified the accuracy of roughly 170 public and private laboratories that screen milk for pathogens, drug residues and other contaminants. On April 21 the agency told those laboratories it was suspending the program because workforce reductions had closed its Moffett Center testing facility and eliminated key quality-assurance staff. NBC Chicago Reuters

Proficiency testing is distinct from the routine analyses laboratories perform on every tanker or package. It is a blind-sample exercise that confirms whether the laboratories can detect adulterants at the required threshold. Without it, state regulators have no federal benchmark to disqualify poorly performing labs. cheesereporter.com IDFA

The International Dairy Foods Association, a trade group, says day-to-day safety checks mandated by the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance continue. It also acknowledges that FDA has not announced an alternative validation method and that processors may contract private providers at additional cost. IDFA

Scope of the HHS staff reductions

The milk-program pause is one of several suspensions that followed the dismissal or departure of about 20,000 employees across Health and Human Services agencies in April. Internal FDA correspondence cites the loss of microbiologists, chemists and a quality-assurance officer as immediate causes for the dairy decision. White House officials frame the cuts as part of a broader order requiring agencies to offset every new regulation with the repeal of 10 existing rules. Reuters The White House

Kennedy’s position on raw milk

Kennedy argues that consumers should be free to buy unpasteurized milk across state lines and has praised state-level legalization efforts. His advisers have consulted raw-milk producers about future policy. Public-health agencies note that the FDA interstate ban, in place since 1987, aims to prevent outbreaks of Listeria, Campylobacter and Salmonella linked to raw milk. Bhfs The Guardian Axios

Laboratory and animal studies published over the past year show that highly pathogenic avian-influenza A (H5N1) virus remains infectious in refrigerated raw milk for weeks, reinforcing federal advice to avoid unpasteurized dairy during the ongoing cattle outbreak. CDC National Institutes of Health (NIH)

FSIS withdrawal of the Salmonella framework

On April 25 FSIS formally withdrew a proposed rule that would have declared specific high-risk Salmonella strains adulterants in raw chicken and turkey. The measure was designed to reduce annual Salmonella illnesses linked to poultry by 25 percent. The agency cited more than 7,000 public comments and cost concerns raised by small processors. The Washington Post Federal Register

Industry groups, led by the National Chicken Council, support the withdrawal and say existing “performance standards” combined with consumer cooking practices are sufficient. Consumer advocates and several former FSIS officials disagree, noting that the last comprehensive poultry-performance update occurred in 2015 and that Salmonella causes more foodborne illness than any other bacterium. CIDRAP AP News

Illness burden

CDC’s most recent attribution report estimates that chicken and turkey account for more than 75 percent of Salmonella illnesses traced to known food sources. The agency puts the overall U.S. foodborne-disease burden at about 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths each year. CDCCDC

An FSIS economic analysis attached to the withdrawn rule calculated the annual cost of poultry-associated Salmonella at $4.1 billion in medical expenses and productivity losses. The Washington Post

Line-speed waivers remain in effect

FSIS continues to extend waivers that let selected plants operate evisceration lines at up to 175 birds per minute under the New Poultry Inspection System. In March the agency said it will open rulemaking to consider making the speed increase permanent while dropping certain worker-safety data requirements. Food Safety and Inspection Service Food Safety and Inspection Service

Federal inspectors’ union officials maintain that higher speeds limit the time available to identify visible fecal contamination. The agency says its preliminary study found no statistically significant rise in musculoskeletal disorders among workers. Food Safety and Inspection Service

State capacity and funding gaps

At least 30 states conduct antibiotic and bacterial testing of Grade “A” milk, often using federal pass-through funds that are now uncertain. Fifteen states operate poultry laboratories that subtype Salmonella, but several of those labs rely on cooperative agreements also slated for reduction. State agriculture departments contacted by NPR said they have no timeline for replacement funds if the federal cuts remain in place after Oct. 1. Reuters The Guardian

Positions from interested parties

FDA — The agency says it is “evaluating alternative approaches” to proficiency testing and intends to brief the laboratory network before the next fiscal year. NBC Chicago

IDFA — The industry group emphasizes that milk leaving a processing plant is still tested for bacteria and residues, but it urges FDA to restore or replace the proficiency program quickly. IDFA

National Chicken Council — The council calls the Salmonella rule “legally unsound” and asserts that on-farm controls have improved since FSIS began drafting the framework in 2021. The Washington Post

Consumer Federation of America — The nonprofit warns that halting rulemaking removes an incentive for companies to invest in pre-harvest interventions such as vaccines and breeder-flock testing. CIDRAP

Public-health implications

Experts interviewed by NPR note that neither proficiency testing nor the Salmonella framework directly inspects consumer products; both functions instead create a verification backstop. Without them, gaps may develop that are hard to detect until illnesses occur. Reuters CIDRAP

FSIS officials acknowledge that current poultry-performance standards classify plants only as “meeting” or “failing,” without differentiating among Salmonella serotypes. As a result, plants can pass even when samples contain strains linked to multidrug-resistant outbreaks such as Salmonella Infantis and Salmonella Hadar. CDC CDC

Consumer guidance from CDC and FDA

• Pasteurized milk remains the safest option because heating to 161 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds reduces common pathogens by at least five logarithmic cycles. News-Medical
• USDA recommends cooking whole or ground poultry to an internal temperature of 165 degrees and refrigerating leftovers within two hours. CDC
• Consumers can sign up for email notifications of recalls from FDA and FSIS; both agencies continue to issue recall notices during the staffing transition. USA TODAY CBS News

Legislative outlook

House and Senate appropriators will negotiate the fiscal 2026 HHS budget beginning in June. Lawmakers could restore FDA laboratory funds or ratify the shift to state oversight. Separately, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and nine co-sponsors have reintroduced the Interstate Milk Freedom Act. The White House has not ruled out signing the bill. New York Magazine Reuters

FSIS officials say a revised Salmonella action plan will be published for comment “later in 2025,” but no target date is set. Food Poisoning News

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Regulatory coverage for two widely consumed foods has narrowed. The FDA’s suspension of dairy-lab proficiency testing removes a federal check on laboratory accuracy, and FSIS’s withdrawal of the Salmonella framework ends plans to treat certain strains in raw poultry as adulterants. Budget cuts and deregulatory priorities drove both decisions. Scientific evidence on raw-milk hazards and persistent Salmonella strains remains unchanged, leaving states, industry and consumers to manage risk in an evolving policy environment. cheesereporter.com The Washington Post CDC