WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 2025—Over the weekend, the Trump Administration carried out indiscriminate firings across the Department of Health and Human Services. The scope of the dismissals remains unclear but appears to include recently hired FDA food inspectors. Thomas Gremillion, Director of Food Policy at Consumer Federation, made the following statement:

“Everyone deserves safe food to eat. American consumers broadly support government programs to protect the food supply from chemical and microbiological contamination. That protection comes in many forms. Epidemiological surveillance at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is critical to connecting the dots between victims of foodborne illness and the food manufacturers that put unsafe food on store shelves. FDA inspectors hold companies accountable for complying with food safety plans and conducting basic sanitation. These are not political enterprises.

“The current chaos does not appear intended to advance any coherent policy vision, but rather to ‘traumatize’ federal employees, in the words of Trump’s recently confirmed OMB Director Russell Vought. Should Vought’s vision succeed at the nation’s food safety agencies, consumers can expect long lasting harm to public health. Under the best of circumstances, government food safety agencies struggle to attract talented staff who may earn more in the private sector. According to surveys, many government employees accept lower compensation in exchange for the opportunity to perform ‘meaningful work,’ including protecting American families from the tragedy of foodborne illness. Indiscriminate staffing cuts undermine these motivations, and raise the concern that meaningful work may soon go undone, and contaminated food may soon be making many more Americans sick.”