FDA: Synthetic food dyes to be phased out. On April 22, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced coming FDA actions aiming “to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from the nation’s food supply” and to prompt the food industry to transition to natural alternatives. The agency’s plan seeks to eliminate the eight approved synthetic food dyes from US manufacturing. The steps the agency will take include establishing a national standard and timeline for the food industry to make the transition; working to revoke authorization for Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B; working with industry to eliminate FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5, FD&C Yellow No. 6, FD&C Blue No. 1, and FD&C Blue No. 2 from the food supply by the end of 2026; in the coming weeks, authorizing four new natural color additives, and launching research on further options ; partnering with the National Institutes of Health to research the impact of food additives on children’s health: and requesting food companies to remove FD&C Red No. 3 sooner than the current deadline – 2027 for foods and 2028 for medications. Kennedy, Jr. stated, “For too long, some food producers have been feeding Americans petroleum-based chemicals without their knowledge or consent… That era is coming to an end.”
In response, several food industry groups said they want to work with the FDA to phase out the use of synthetic dyes in foods and beverages. Noting that the FDA wants the phase-out to occur without a government mandate, Melissa Hockstad, president and CEO of the Consumer Brands Association, said, “As we increase the use of alternative ingredients, food and beverage companies will not sacrifice science or the safety of our products. Earlier this year, we urged HHS and FDA to follow the same rigor, and we encourage the administration to prioritize research that is objective, peer-reviewed, and relevant to human health and safety.”
“Sugar is poison.” At the press conference announcing the synthetic food dye phaseout, Kennedy also stated, “Sugar is poison and Americans need to know that it is poisoning us.” He added that the next Dietary Guidelines for Americans will recommend that Americans eat no added sugar whatsoever. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, jointly updated by HHS and the USDA every five years, set out science-based nutritional advice for Americans and serve as the foundation for national food assistance programs. The 2025-2030 Guidelines are currently being developed. Kennedy continued, “I don’t think that we’re going to be able to eliminate sugar, but I think what we need to do, probably, is give Americans knowledge about how much sugar is in their products, and also, with the new nutrition guidelines, we’ll give them a very clear idea about how much sugar they should be using, which is zero.”
Salmonella Framework withdrawn. The USDA has withdrawn the Salmonella Framework for Raw Poultry Products, a proposed rule and proposed determination, "to further assess its approach for addressing Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry product." The proposal would have established final product standards to prevent raw chicken carcasses, chicken parts, ground chicken, and ground turkey products that contain any type of salmonella above a very low level and any detectable level of at least one of the Salmonella serotypes of public health significance from entering commerce. Such poultry parts would have been regarded as adulterated under the Poultry Products Inspection Act. The withdrawal of the Framework was prompted by questions raised in the public comment period – USDA received 7,089 comments on the proposed rule. Salmonella is a leading cause of illness in the US. According to the CDC, it causes 1.35 million infections a year in the US, most through food, and about 420 deaths; the USDA estimates that of those, 125,000 infections arise from chicken and 43,000 from turkey.
Food Emergency Response Network Proficiency Testing Program suspended. The FDA has suspended the Food Emergency Response Network Proficiency Testing Program. The program works to ensure the ability of laboratories to identify pathogens and other contaminants in the nation’s dairy supply. The facility housing the program, the Moffett Center Proficiency Testing Laboratory, is reportedly being shuttered as a result of massive job cuts and site closures across HHS. This month, the FDA also suspended a program to improve testing for bird flu in dairy products and pet foods. Reportedly, the proficiency testing program is in process of transferring to another location. An FDA spokesperson stated that the agency "is actively evaluating alternative approaches."
HHS rehires some FDA scientists. On April 25, HHS officials reversed their decision to fire dozens of FDA food safety scientists and reportedly are reviewing whether other critical positions were also slashed. About 20 percent of the agency’s workforce has been eliminated this year – one of the largest reductions across all government agencies in this Administration. Reportedly, an HHS spokesman is ascribing the firing of those scientists to inaccurate job classification codes. Being rehired are scientists who focus on such issues as infant formula safety and outbreaks of food-related illness. The rehirings come shortly after FDA Commissioners Dr. Martin Makary stated, “I can tell you there were no cuts to scientists or inspectors.” See some of our coverage of the deep cuts at HHS here.
FDA study of PFAS in bottled waters. An FDA Constituent Update released in mid-April sets out the final results from the agency’s testing of domestic and imported bottled waters for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The agency tested 197 samples of bottled waters sold at retail locations across the US in 2023 and 2024, looking for 18 types of PFAS, among them the six PFAS for which EPA has established maximum contaminant levels for drinking water. Of the 197 samples, only ten had detectable PFAS levels, the Update stated, “none of which had levels that would have exceeded the maximum contaminant levels.”
Sarah Katz Caffeine Safety Act is reintroduced to US House. Representative Rob Menendez (D-NJ) has reintroduced HB 2511, the Sarah Katz Caffeine Safety Act, a bill that would mandate restaurants and energy drink manufacturers to disclose the amount of caffeine in their products. Under the measure, a food, beverage, or dietary supplement containing more than 10 mg of caffeine would be regarded as misbranded unless the label provides certain disclosures, such as the number of milligrams of caffeine the product contains. The bill is named for a college student who died after drinking a 30-ounce caffeinated energy drink. Although she suffered from a serious underlying medical condition, she reportedly monitored her food intake carefully, avoiding all caffeinated beverages; the drink in question did not disclose its caffeine content and was sold alongside caffeine-free beverages. HB 2511 would require retail food establishments to disclose, on menus, menu boards, and drive-throughs, whether a menu item contains more than 150 milligrams of caffeine, and would require makers of energy drinks, wherever they are sold, to disclose the amount of caffeine or other stimulants on package labels.
New bill in US Senate would boost state-inspected meat and poultry. A group of US senators, led by Charles Grassley (R-IA), has reintroduced the New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act, which would allow businesses that are working with state Meat and Poultry Inspection (MPI) programs to sell their products across state lines. Grassley noted that products that have passed state inspection programs are limited to being sold only in those states – even though an inspection at a state facility can meet or exceed federal inspection standards. “High-quality Iowa products that have already passed a rigorous inspection process shouldn’t require additional inspection to sell across state lines. Our commonsense legislation would remove this regulatory overreach and provide consumers with more options at the meat counter,” Grassley said. Twenty-nine states have their own inspection programs.
Arizona passes law to prohibit “ultra-processed foods” in schools. On April 14, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed HB 2164, the Arizona Healthy Schools Act, which bans “ultra-processed foods” from being served or sold in public schools. It defines “ultra-processed foods” as foods containing “one or more” of a list of additives, among them potassium bromate, propylparaben, titanium dioxide, brominated vegetable oil, and various synthetic food dyes, such as Red 40, Yellow 5, and Blue 1. Included are foods served in school meals and foods sold in vending machines or by third-party vendors “during the normal school day.” Schools will be expected to comply with the legislation by the 2026-2027 school year. The chief sponsor of the bill in the state legislature credited US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again agenda as an impetus for the bill. HB 2164 also states that it “does not prevent a student's parent or guardian from providing ultraprocessed food to the student during the normal school day.” Similar bills also being considered in both red and blue states - California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, and Utah, and in March, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey signed HB 2354 into law, banning certain synthetic dyes and preservatives from commercially sold foods.
Appeals court rules for baby food manufacturer in disclosure lawsuit. In an unpublished opinion dated April 25, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a ruling in favor of Plum PBC, a baby food manufacturer, in a consumer suit that had alleged that the company failed to disclose that its products could contain heavy metals and perchlorate. “Heavy metals and perchlorate are found in a wide range of crops and food products because they are present in soil, air, and water, and Plaintiffs fail to allege that Plum’s products contain any specific level of these substances,” the court said. “Moreover, Plaintiffs concede that they are not alleging that Plum’s products are unsafe nor that their children were harmed by Plum’s products. On this record, there is insufficient evidence to establish that Plum’s products pose an unreasonable safety hazard.”
Consumers pessimistic about the future of the US economy. The University of Michigan’s April Surveys of Consumers report, a key consumer-sentiment survey, has found a sharp decline in how Americans feel about the future of the US economy. Confidence in the overall economy fell 8 percent compared to that in March – the fourth straight decline since the start of the year – and 32 percent relative to January. Respondents across political affiliations said that they expect their personal finances to degrade this year and that they expect inflation to rise. “Consumers perceived risks to multiple aspects of the economy, in large part due to ongoing uncertainty around trade policy and the potential for a resurgence of inflation looming ahead. Labor market expectations remained bleak,” stated Dr. Joanne Hsu, Surveys of Consumers director.
Avian flu update.
- On April 25, the USDA confirmed additional cases of H5N1 in six dairy herds in Idaho, bringing the national total of dairy herds infected since March 2024 (the start of the outbreak among cattle) to 1,037 dairy herds in 17 states. The Idaho State Department of Agriculture has quarantined 25 dairy operations in Gooding, Jerome, and Twin Falls counties. Idaho is the nation’s third-largest dairy producer, and the dairy industry is the state's largest agricultural sector.
- At this writing, the USDA has confirmed 41 outbreaks in egg layer flocks across the US this year. The most recent Egg Markets Overview from the USDA states that this year, 30.6 million birds have been lost to H5N1 in the US. Commercial flocks in Arizona, California, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington were affected.
- On April 28, the World Organization for Animal Health declared North Carolina’s commercial poultry farms to be free of H5N1. The move lifts a months-long suspension of poultry exports from the state. Broiler chickens are North Carolina’s top agricultural commodity, and it is also a leading producer of eggs and turkeys. In 2024, the state exported $347.4 million worth of poultry and poultry products.
- Also on April 28, Indiana’s Board of Animal Health announced that it has not reported any avian flu outbreaks in the state’s commercial flocks in more than a month. This year, new cases of bird flu were being reported nearly every week in Indiana, but no new reports have been issued since March 28.
- Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union on April 27, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins stated that the price of eggs is falling. “When you look at the wholesale cost of eggs – which drives the retail cost, the retail will follow soon – the actual wholesale cost of eggs is down 58 percent in the last six weeks,” she said. Retail prices are already falling in some regions, she said, adding, “Some parts of the country, it has not followed yet, but it’s coming.”
- Earlier this year, New York state's Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYDAM) temporarily shut down 82 live bird markets in New York state and began requiring testing of birds prior to entering such markets. Since those measures were implemented, the virus has been detected at 16 live bird markets in New York City. On April 25, BBC Science Focus published a video showing that "inner-city poultry markets in New York are failing to take recommended precautions to protect staff and the public." Veterinarian Dr. Crystal Heath, who provided the film to the BBC, stated, “These live poultry markets are failing to take the most basic biosecurity precautions. Anybody can just walk in off the street and be exposed to the pathogens there.”
- California has confirmed the country’s first H5N1 infection in a pediatric patient. No personal details are being released about the patient, who appears to live in a household that includes an agricultural worker. Other members of the household were also tested, and no one else was infected with H5N1, nor was the child otherwise exposed to infected animals or humans. The patient’s illness was reportedly mild.
- On April 21, health officials in Vietnam confirmed a severe H5N1 infection in a child, an eight-year-old girl who is reportedly experiencing symptoms of encephalitis.
- In a joint program with the CDC, the California Department of Public Health is now offering $25 gift cards to farmworkers who agree to be tested for H5N1 or to be vaccinated for seasonal flu. The cards, funded under the state's avian flu emergency declaration, are available at certain clinics as well as from the mobile van operated by the state's Avian Flu Influenza Area Surveillance Testing (AFAST) project, which visits agricultural sites impacted by H5N1.
- The CDC has terminated the contract for a workshop on prevent human bird flu infections that was being organized by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The workshop, slated for June, had been requested by poultry farmers following a March forum discussing the federal bird flu response, and has now been cancelled. An advisory on the workshop website states, "On April 23, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services informed the National Academy of Sciences that it should terminate all work on this activity. This activity has ended, and a final product was not released."
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