The Food and Drug Administration is halting a quality control program used to test drinking milk following President Trump’s federal workforce cuts.
The suspension is another disruption to the nation's food safety programs after the termination and departure of 20,000 employees of the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the FDA, as part of President Donald Trump's effort to shrink the federal workforce.
From Monday, the agency will suspend its proficiency program for grade “A” raw milk and finished products – the category that meets the highest sanitation standard - according to an internal email seen by Reuters.
In the email, the FDA’s Moffett Center Proficiency Testing Laboratory said it “is no longer able to provide laboratory support for proficiency testing and data analysis”.
"The FDA is actively evaluating alternative approaches for the upcoming fiscal year and will keep all participating laboratories informed as new information becomes available," the email added.
A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said that the laboratory was already set to be decommissioned ahead of the announcement.
They added that the proficiency testing was only being paused because of a transition to a new laboratory, and insisted that dairy product testing would continue.
The announcement comes days after an informant revealed to CBS News that the FDA is planning to end the majority of its food and safety inspections. HHS denied the claims to The Independent.
Also on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., announced the FDA will phase out the use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes in the nation’s food supply - and its coloring used in many common foods.
The Trump administration says the move to eliminate synthetic dyes from the food supply by the end of next year could mark a “major step forward” in the drive to “Make America Healthy Again.”
The ban would impact products such as breakfast cereals, candy and snacks. The dyes been tied to neurological problems in some children.
“For too long, some food producers have been feeding Americans petroleum-based chemicals without their knowledge or consent,” Kennedy said in a statement. “These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children’s health and development.
Why Zelensky swerved an American ambush in London
Pope Francis death: What happens next?
UK Government borrowing rises above forecasts for financial year
Trump says $5,000 ‘baby bonus’ for moms after they give birth a ‘good idea’
Trump live: Musk to ‘significantly’ step back from DOGE after Tesla profits plunge
More than 80% of world’s coral reefs hit by worst bleaching event in history
