The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has quietly halted its long‑running proficiency‑testing program for Grade “A” milk and other dairy products after deep staff cuts, ending a cornerstone of federal oversight that for decades verified that state and private laboratories could detect pathogens and emerging threats such as the H5N1 bird‑flu virus. Reuters

The FDA traces its origins to the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act, enacted after muckraking exposés of tainted “snake‑oil” medicines and adulterated foods. The law required truthful labeling and laid the groundwork for the modern agency, later strengthened by the 1938 Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act passed after the Elixir Sulfanilamide poisonings killed 107 people, many of them children. U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationU.S. Food and Drug Administration

In an internal email obtained by Reuters, the agency’s dairy‑safety division told participating laboratories on Monday it could no longer run the program because its Moffett Center Proficiency Testing Laboratory had been shuttered. Reuters A separate inter‑laboratory comparison exercise—designed to make sure both human‑ and animal‑health labs could spot bird‑flu contamination in milk, cheese and pet food—was canceled earlier this month for the same reason. Reuters

The cuts follow the departure or firing of about 20,000 employees across the Department of Health and Human Services after President Donald Trump ordered agencies to trim payrolls and proposed a $40 billion reduction to the FDA’s budget. ReutersReuters A White House hiring freeze imposed last week bars the FDA from replacing those workers for at least six months. Reuters

Oversight of the layoff plan falls to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 13 despite a long record of opposing routine childhood immunizations and promoting raw, unpasteurized milk. ReutersEater Kennedy, 71, is an environmental lawyer and scion of the political family who gained prominence through his nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, which has filed dozens of lawsuits challenging vaccine and public‑health policies. NPR

Critics say the milk‑testing shutdown fits a broader pattern. Kennedy has encouraged consumption of raw milk on social‑media livestreams and radio appearances, arguing pasteurization “destroys nutrients,” claims the FDA disputes. Eater During the current H5N1 dairy‑cattle outbreak, FDA scientists have warned that pasteurization inactivates the virus but stressed the need for continuous surveillance of the commercial milk supply. U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Meanwhile, the worst U.S. measles surge in a quarter‑century has sickened at least 800 people in 25 jurisdictions, with Texas alone reporting 624 cases and two child deaths. Reuters Pediatricians say mixed signals from Kennedy—who alternates between acknowledging the effectiveness of the measles‑mumps‑rubella vaccine and touting unproven vitamin‑A regimens—have fueled parental hesitation and hampered outbreak control. ReutersCNN

Food‑safety specialists warn that suspending the milk program now could leave regulators blind to contaminants from Listeria to Cyclospora, pathogens already responsible for multistate outbreaks in recent years. Laboratory accreditation rules also require continuous proficiency testing; without it, plants could lose certification, further straining the dairy supply chain. ReutersReuters

“The system was built on the simple promise that the federal government would catch the bad actors before the public paid the price,” said former FDA food‑safety chief Jim Jones, who resigned after 89 layoffs in February. “When you pull that thread, the whole fabric unravels.” Eater

Congress first tasked the FDA with protecting Americans from quack remedies peddled from horse‑drawn wagons; more than a century later, public‑health scholars say the agency is again confronting a wave of misinformation—this time amplified by social media and, increasingly, by voices inside the government itself. U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationNPR

The FDA says it is “exploring alternative approaches” to restart milk testing in the next fiscal year, but laboratories have received no timeline. State officials in Texas, New Mexico and Vermont told Reuters they lack the resources to step in. Reuters

For now, experts advise consumers to rely on pasteurized dairy and to keep routine vaccinations up to date—precautions their grandparents might have taken for granted but that, in 2025, can no longer be assumed.