Tag Archives: Jim Jones

FDA Logo
Beltway Beat

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

By Food Safety Tech Staff
No Comments
FDA Logo

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

 

FDA logo
Beltway Beat

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

By Food Safety Tech Staff
No Comments
FDA logo

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.

2024 FSC animated banner