WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) - The Food and Drug Administration is suspending a quality control program for testing of fluid milk and other dairy products due to reduced capacity in its food safety and nutrition division, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.
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.The FDA this month also suspended existing and developing programs that ensured accurate testing for bird flu in milk and cheese and pathogens like the parasite Cyclospora in other food products.
Effective Monday, the agency suspended its proficiency testing program for Grade "A" raw milk and finished products, according to the email sent in the morning from the FDA's Division of Dairy Safety and addressed to "Network Laboratories."Grade "A" milk, or fluid milk, meets the highest sanitary standards.
The testing program was suspended because FDA's Moffett Center Proficiency Testing Laboratory, part of its division overseeing food safety, "is no longer able to provide laboratory support for proficiency testing and data analysis," the email said.
An HHS spokesperson said the laboratory was already set to be decommissioned before the staff cuts and though proficiency testing would be paused during the transition to a new laboratory, dairy product testing will continue.
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.The FDA this month also suspended existing and developing programs that ensured accurate testing for bird flu in milk and cheese and pathogens like the parasite Cyclospora in other food products.
Effective Monday, the agency suspended its proficiency testing program for Grade "A" raw milk and finished products, according to the email sent in the morning from the FDA's Division of Dairy Safety and addressed to "Network Laboratories."Grade "A" milk, or fluid milk, meets the highest sanitary standards.
The testing program was suspended because FDA's Moffett Center Proficiency Testing Laboratory, part of its division overseeing food safety, "is no longer able to provide laboratory support for proficiency testing and data analysis," the email said.
An HHS spokesperson said the laboratory was already set to be decommissioned before the staff cuts and though proficiency testing would be paused during the transition to a new laboratory, dairy product testing will continue.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Washington, April 21st, Reuters. The Food and Drug Administration is suspending a quality control program for testing of fluid, milk, and other dairy products due to reduced capacity in its food safety and nutrition division, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.
00:16The 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.
00:33The FDA this month also suspended existing and developing programs that ensured accurate testing for bird flu in milk and cheese and pathogens like the parasite cyclospor and other food products.
00:47Effective Monday, the agency suspended a proficiency testing program for grade a raw milk and finished products, according to the email sent in the morning from the FDA's Division of Dairy Safety and addressed to network laboratories.
01:01Grade A milk or fluid milk meets the highest sanitary standards.
01:07The testing program was suspended because FDA's Moffitt Center Proficiency Testing Laboratory, part of its division overseeing food safety, is no longer able to provide laboratory support for proficiency testing and data analysis, the email said.
01:22An HHS spokesperson said a laboratory was already set to be decommissioned before the staff cuts, and though proficiency testing would be paused or in transition to a new laboratory, dairy product testing will continue.