The U.S. Department of Agriculture paused funding for certain Maine educational programs on Wednesday, citing the state’s noncompliance with Title IX over its student sports participation rules.
The decision is consistent with President Donald Trump’s effort to enforce federal restrictions on who can compete in female sports, targeting programs that
Continue Reading USDA freezes Maine funding over Title IX dispute
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a major restructuring today, consolidating multiple agencies into a new Administration for Healthy America (AHA) and reducing its workforce by 10,000 positions. The department said the plan aims to streamline operations and improve efficiency.
While this restructuring is intended to enhance
Continue Reading HHS announces restructuring plan, reducing workforce by 10,000
A year into the outbreak of avian flu, there is a continuing threat from the virus to poultry flocks and dairy herds, and to a lesser degree humans.
Since March 2024, the avian flu — also called bird flu or H5N1 — has infected almost 1,000 dairy herds across 17
Continue Reading One year after hitting dairy herds, bird flu continues to devastate poultry flocks
A study by the CDC, FDA and USDA used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and machine learning to identify chicken and vegetables as leading sources of Salmonella enterica infections in the United States.
The research, published in the April 2025 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, focused on sporadic cases, which account
Continue Reading Machine learning links up to 64 percent of Salmonella cases to chicken and vegetables
— OPINION —
I’ve been around food safety for nearly 50 years in government, academia, and the private sector. I’ve seen a lot of progress to make food safer for consumers, often led by the food industry itself. And I’ve seen examples of resistance.
But I’ve never seen a campaign
Continue Reading Why are chicken executives stonewalling consumers on food safety?
I have said this too many times. In the 1990’s ninety percent of the work I did were E. coli O157:H7 cases linked to hamburger. However, due to the collaboration between regulators (deeming E. coli O157:H7 and adulterant), the beef industry (interventions and implementing “test and hold” and the restaurant
Continue Reading Publisher’s Platform: A “rare” E. coli Outbreak linked to ground beef is a reminder of a bad past
The recent decision to eliminate the USDA’s National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) and their National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) should alarm every American. This isn’t just about disbanding committees. It’s a clear signal that food safety — at the federal level —
Continue Reading Loss of USDA food safety committees is a loss for everyone in America
The Trump Administration has eliminated two USDA food safety advisory committees that have been in place for decades.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture notified committee members of the move on March 6.
The committees are the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) and the National Advisory Committee
Continue Reading President Trump eliminates two key food safety committees
Eighty-four members of Congress have written to President Trump expressing concerns about his actions regarding the CDC and USDA that will negatively impact the nation’s ability to ensure that bird flu does not become widespread among people.
United States Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, leads the 83 other lawmakers in the
Continue Reading Lawmakers ask President Trump to restore interagency communications
As confirmations of the spread of bird flu in dairy herds and poultry flocks in the United States continue to mount, the Public Health Agency of Canada has secured 500,000 additional doses of a human vaccine to protect people most at risk of contracting the virus.
People most at risk
Continue Reading USDA reports spread of bird flu to other animals; Canada buys additional vaccine