Tag Archives: Jim Jones

Jim Jones, FDA
Beltway Beat

Jim Jones resigns as FDA deputy commissioner for human foods

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Jim Jones, FDA

Jim Jones, FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods, has resigned from his post at the agency, according to multiple sources. The head of the food division at the US Food and Drug Administration has quit in protest over sweeping staff cuts that he warns will hamper the agency’s ability to protect public health.

Jim Jones, who joined the agency in September 2023, cited “indiscriminate” layoffs to 89 staff members, including key technical experts. In his resignation letter to the acting FDA commissioner, Sara Brenner, seen by Bloomberg News, Jones said the cuts would make it “fruitless” to continue in his role given the Trump administration’s “disdain for the very people” needed to implement food safety reforms.

According to Bloomberg News, the White House defended the staff changes, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling saying “bureaucrats” were resistant to implementing the president’s agenda. “President Trump is only interested in the best and most qualified people who are also willing to implement his America First Agenda on behalf of the American people,” Leavitt said in an email. “It’s not for everyone, and that’s okay.”

Jones was an integral member of the Reagan-Udall Foundation’s Independent Expert Panel for Foods, which submitted a report in December 2022 on the operational evaluation of the FDA’s Human Foods Program. He holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Maryland.

In October of 2024, Jones lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s reorganization implementation involving the creation of the unified Human Foods Program (HFP), adoption of a new model for its field operations and other significant modernization efforts, notably enhancing the agency’s ability to oversee and protect the human food supply and other products the FDA regulates.

photo credit: Rick Biros

Jones was the Keynote Speaker at the Food Safety Consortium Conference, October 2024 in Washington DC. in which he delved into the agency’s recent reorganizational changes, key regulatory policy priorities, and commitment to stakeholder transparency.

“I was looking forward to working to pursue the department’s agenda of improving the health of Americans by reducing diet-related chronic disease and risks from chemicals in food,” Jones wrote in his resignation letter.

 

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Beltway Beat

Blumenthal, Smith, Booker, & Durbin Call Out FDA for Proposed Cuts to State & Local Food Safety Programs

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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In a press release on U.S. Senator’s  Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) website, he and fellow Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote to Jim Jones, Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), seeking an explanation regarding the agency’s plans to significantly reduce funding for state and local food safety programs. These programs perform a majority of food inspections reported by the FDA, including processing facility inspections, produce safety inspections, and retail food inspections.

“We are concerned that these proposed cuts will undo years of progress toward establishing a truly integrated food safety system,” wrote the Senators. “State budgets across the country are already stretched thin, these cuts would deleteriously impact our nation’s food safety system as some state programs inevitably scale back or are eliminated completely.”

“While we appreciate that you may need to occasionally reallocate resources based on programmatic needs, we are concerned that the full impact of the proposed cuts to state and local programs has not been taken into account and that the agency has failed to fully consider alternative options,” the Senators continued.

The full text of the letter can be found here

 

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Beltway Beat

FDA’s new Human Foods Program (HFP) kick’s off October 1

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s reorganization implementation involving the creation of a unified Human Foods Program (HFP), adoption of a new model for its field operations and other significant modernization efforts are scheduled for Oct. 1, 2024, notably enhancing the agency’s ability to oversee and protect the human food supply and other products the FDA regulates.

Jim Jones, FDALead by Jim Jones, Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods at FDA, the reorganization establishes the HFP by realigning the functions of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the Office of Food Policy and Response, as well as key functions from the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) under one program.

Additionally, the restructuring of ORA will enable the field operations unit to focus on inspections, investigations and imports as its core mission. The FDA is changing the name of ORA to the Office of Inspections and Investigations (OII) to better convey the organization’s role as the frontline of the FDA, which provides real time insights and science-based evidence necessary to ensure the safety and quality of products Americans depend on.

Jim Jones will Keynote the Food Safety Consortium Conference, October 20-22 in Washington DC. During this session Mr. Jones will delve into the agency’s recent reorganizational changes, key regulatory policy priorities, and commitment to stakeholder transparency. Doug Stearns, Deputy Associate Commissioner of Regulatory Affairs, will discuss how these changes will shape investigations and inspections for both domestic and foreign facilities. Attendees will gain valuable perspectives on regulatory shifts, emerging challenges, and collaborative opportunities shaping the landscape of food safety and compliance. Discover how the new Deputy Commissioner’s strategic vision will drive innovation, enhance public health outcomes, and foster trust within the food industry. Attendees will have the opportunity to gain deep insights into emerging challenges, innovative strategies, and collaborative approaches to advancing food safety.

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