The Trump Administration’s termination of federal employees reached the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) workforce this weekend, AP reported. “The total number of positions eliminated was not clear Sunday, but the firings appeared to focus on employees in the agency’s centers for food, medical devices and tobacco products—which includes oversight of electronic cigarettes,” the news agency said.
“Mitch Zeller, former FDA director for tobacco, said the firings are a way to ‘demoralize and undermine the spirit of the federal workforce’,” reported AP.
Jim Jones, deputy commissioner for human foods at the FDA, resigned on Monday after staff layoffs, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. He joined the FDA in September of 2023 as the agency’s first deputy commissioner for human foods, overseeing all FDA food safety and nutrition activities, the agency said.
On Monday, former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf shared his thoughts regarding federal workers being cut from the agency.
“Hard to understand why the expertise is being disregarded,” Califf posted on LinkedIn. “Cutting the recent hires disproportionately disadvantages the most needed areas for bolstering regulation. This is especially true of chemicals in food, where laws require complex science to make the case in a way that will withstand court challenges by industry.”
In January, the FDA said it is banning red dye No. 3 from food products. Manufacturers have until January 2027 to reformulate their products, agency said.
The FDA is a federal regulatory agency in the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA's Center for Tobacco Products Director is Brian King.
CSP reached out to the FDA for comment but did not receive a reply by posting time.
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