Senator Murray Calls on FDA to Strengthen Lagging Food and Nutrition Regulation Efforts

Senator Murray: “At our recent hearing on the FDA, I said business as usual at the agency was not working—and this report shows exactly why.”

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement on a new Politico report that details a culture of inaction at the Food and Drug Administration in the agency’s food safety and nutrition efforts. The report lays out several examples of food safety issues where action has been stalled for years, leaving families at risk of exposure to dangerous heavy metals in baby food, contaminated infant formula, pathogens in produce, and more.

“At our recent hearing on the FDA, I said business as usual at the agency was not working—and this report shows exactly why. Americans put their trust in the FDA’s regulation and oversight of our food supply every time they sit down for a meal, and they deserve to know it is working diligently and quickly to respond to threats to their health. Instead, this report shows that when it comes to food safety and nutrition, time after time the agency has been slow to act, and families have been left at risk for years. It’s unacceptable that the agency has spent so long spinning their wheels when it comes to issues as important to families as the food they eat and feed their loved ones. I am going to be pressing for answers from FDA leadership on how they will fix this, and holding them accountable for doing so as quickly as possible.”

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