PediatricDigest: Latest from Food Politics: The FDA's promised work plan for 2026: ambitious, yes, but doable?

By Marion Nestle

February 03 2026

The FDA’s promised work plan for 2026: ambitious, yes, but doable?

I thought this post on X was well worth a follow up. I went right to the site: Human Foods Program 2026 Priority Deliverables.

Its vision: “to ensure that food serves as a vehicle for wellness.”

Its mission: “to protect and promote the health and wellness of the American public through science-based approaches to prevent foodborne illness, reduce diet-related chronic disease, and ensure chemicals in food are safe.”

Its 2026 Priority Deliverables: these are listed in three categories: food chemical safety, nutrition, and microbiological food safety.

I. Food Chemical Safety (my selection and summary)

Reform GRAS; regulate
Review safety of food chemcials
Conduct research on microplastics
Establish action levels for cadmium and inorganic arsenic in baby foods
Research consumer exposure to PFAS and other chemicals
Regulate new dietary ingredients
Modernize oversight of supplements
Collect opinions on allergens; develop regulations

II. Reducing chronic disease through better nutrition

Research ultra-processed foods; develop definition
Research infant formula nutrient requirements
Recruit experts to develop a UPF policy agenda
Work toward issuing a front-of-package label to encourage healthier consumer choice and reformulation
Implement the “healthy” front-of-package label
Develop strategy to reduce added sugars
Evaluate phase I targets for sodium reduction
Issue guidance on food labeling for online shopping

III. Microbiological food safety

Get states to take action
Increase oversight of imported food
Increase oversight of imported shrimp
Train growers to prevent produce contamination
Improve recall communication

Comment

I haven’t listed everything but this should give you the idea. Lots of this involves “research,” “develop,” and “evaluate.” Hardly any involves real regulation (except for chemical food additives). Still, this is, or could be, an impressive list.

The most pressing area is microbial food safety, because we are still seeing so many people made ill by contaminated food, especially infant formula.

The big question: Where is the FDA going to get the resources needed to carry out this agenda? The FDA, already working for decades on an increasingly bare-bones budget for all it is required to do, eliminated a fifth of its workforce last year.

And this administration prefers personal responsibility as the primary approach to dietary health.

It would be great if the FDA could do all this in 2026. We are already in February. It has best get busy.

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