Restore FDA and HHS Food Safety Staff and Labs Now

Demand that the FDA and HHS immediately restore the food safety officials, inspectors, and laboratory staff cut under the Trump administration. This isn't abstract — this summer the U.S. recorded its largest-ever outbreak of cyclosporiasis, with more than 15,700 confirmed cases traced to contaminated lettuce. Public health experts are clear: the response was slower and more disorganized because the staff and labs that would normally coordinate it no longer exist. The FDA has lost thousands of employees. The CDC and USDA's meat and poultry inspection service have lost thousands more. Two federal parasitology labs that tracked foodborne pathogens were ordered to relocate or shut down with no plan to preserve their equipment or research. The CDC even removed Cyclospora from its active disease surveillance network — right before the biggest cyclosporiasis outbreak on record. Congress must press these agencies to reverse these cuts and fully fund food safety inspection and outbreak-response programs before the next crisis hits.