Ranking Member Cassidy Delivers Remarks During FDA Food Hearing
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered remarks during today’s hearing on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulation of American food.
Click here to watch the hearing live.
Cassidy’s speech as prepared for delivery can be found below:
Thank you, Chair Sanders.
Nearly one in three Americans live with obesity, including 14 million children. Nearly one in ten have type 2 diabetes, which is one of the many chronic diseases obesity is associated with. Obesity costs lives and results in $173 billion in health care spending per year.
We must have solutions for this, and for the complications that we have spoken of. A great place to start is the nation's food supply, and the changes in Americans’ diets over decades. According to the Annals of Internal Medicine, 37 percent of adults consume an unhealthy diet.
Reducing obesity, particularly among children, is a bipartisan issue. The incoming Trump administration is indicating that combating obesity and promoting healthy foods will be a top priority. Many of President Trump’s concerns around food transparency are echoed by my Democrat colleagues, including Chair Sanders. In the new Majority, I am excited to work with President Trump and my colleagues to examine this issue and craft policies that enhance the health of Americans.
Today, we’ll hear about the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) desire to implement a mandatory front-of-package label. While it’s puzzling that the Committee is holding a hearing before FDA has even released a formal proposal, it is nonetheless an important conversation.
We must recognize, however, that food labeling reforms are not the end-all be-all. Which is to say, they are not a silver bullet to solving the nation’s health and obesity issues. The Committee needs to look at all factors leading to obesity, and how Congress can use its resources to promote a healthier lifestyle.
This means examining FDA’s role in reviewing the safety of chemicals and ingredients that go into our foods. It is important that FDA take a close look at existing review frameworks so foods are safe to consume. We also need to examine how Congress can better support robust scientific research on food ingredients. I look forward to discussing this with FDA leadership today.
I also want to hear from FDA about the progress it has made in improving its food safety duties. Under the Biden-Harris administration, FDA faced enormous challenges in regulating food safety, including the 2022 infant formula shortage, which severely impacted American families. These challenges led FDA to complete the largest reorganization in its history. It is important that Congress oversees FDA’s work.
Beyond FDA, we know that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) habitually underfunds nutrition and obesity research, despite its overwhelming impact on the health of our country and impact on related medical conditions. There is also a lack of NIH funding looking at genetic predisposition. This is something I'll examine as chair of HELP Committee in collaboration with the Trump administration.
Thank you to our witnesses for being here. I look forward to a productive discussion on how we can make America healthy again.
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