— OPINION —
No parent should have to worry that infant formula could be contaminated and make their baby sick — but that fear is top of mind for many right now.
The FDA recently announced more than 30 cases of botulism tied to infant formula. All of these infants have been hospitalized, in what surely is a terrifying moment for the affected families.
To make matters worse, the infant formula company involved, ByHeart, tried to downplay the outbreak in the beginning.
This is yet another reminder of why we need a strong food safety system to protect consumers from companies who don’t have our health as a top priority.
And right now, our food safety system isn’t cutting it. In fact, it’s on the brink of collapse.
Throughout this year, the Trump administration has taken a chainsaw to our already-stretched food safety programs, defunding and understaffing the agencies that prevent, catch, and communicate foodborne illness outbreaks:
The Trump administration fired over ten thousand HHS workers, including the team that trains food inspectors at the FDA human foods program.
Recently, the administration also axed the CDC Washington, DC office that briefs Congress on outbreaks. That means Congress won’t be getting briefed on this most recent infant formula outbreak.
On top of that, FoodNet was cut, which once actively tracked and documented foodborne illness incidence.
If we do not reverse course immediately, we face a future of further plummeting confidence in science and, more significantly, more outbreaks of preventable illnesses like botulism. That’s why what we do here at CSPI is so important.
No matter who’s in office, we’ll continue to jump into action to defend food safety—because at the end of the day, eating safe food is something everyone can agree on.
Unfortunately, given the cuts we’ve seen so far in just this past year alone, we’re also preparing for more food safety cuts ahead—because we know this administration is just getting started.
About the author: Sarah Sorscher is Director of Regulatory Affairs for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
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