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FDA Guts Food Safety Testing in Latest Move to 'Make America Healthy Again' (gizmodo.com)

submitted 1 year ago by pelespirit@sh.itjust.works to c/politics@sh.itjust.works

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First up, the FDA is suspending quality control testing at the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) Proficiency Testing Program, according to a report from Reuters. The program tests for parasites like Cyclospora in spinach and the pesticide glyphosate in barley, among other foods. The suspension was announced internally at the FDA on Tuesday, according to Reuters, which cites an email distributed about staff leaving. The program oversees testing at about 170 labs, which will no longer get quality control checks through at least Sept. 30.

The changes to FERN are a direct result of staffing cuts at the HHS, which oversees agencies like the FDA and CDC. Kennedy is overseeing a reduction in force at the agency that’s seeing about 20,000 people leave through layoffs and departures.

Second, and perhaps even more troubling, is a report from CBS News that the FDA is currently making plans to end most food safety inspections at the federal level. The theory, if you can call it that, is that food safety is something that should only be done at the local level, and you don’t want federal inspectors to just “duplicate” work already done by states.

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[–] markovs_gun@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

As someone who lives in the US what the fuck am I supposed to do now? Just shop at bougie grocery stores and pray that those brands are still following some kind of standards? I don't want to leave my home but I am worried it's just going to keep getting worse and worse and I am too disabled to fight in a civil war if it comes to that.

[–] JayDee@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Some tips are:

Buy from local farms if you can. The fewer steps from you, the fewer chances for the food to be contaminated.
Cook everything. Spinach and other greens will not be clean from simply being washed. No chances, you cook everything like you cook chicken.
Grow what you can. Sometimes all you can get away with is an herb plant, sometimes you can have tubers.

These types of obstacles are usually better tackled as a community than individualistically. Talking with your neighbors and friends so you can all work together on this stuff is usually your best bet.

[–] markovs_gun@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Lmao at that last part my neighbors voted for all of this and are apparently incapable of seeing any kind of problem with anything the administration does so I feel like I'd have ac tough time getting them on board with a food co-op thing

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago

Yes, even in the bougie stores, you're going to have issues.