WEDNESDAY, March 12, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Two key federal advisory committees on food safety have been shut down, raising concerns among food safety advocates. The move was part of a Trump administration push to cut costs and shrink the government.

The US Department of Agriculture has disbanded two food safety advisory committees in alignment with President Trump's directive to downsize federal bureaucracy and reduce costs.  A USDA spokesperson told Just Food the department has eliminated the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) and the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI).

President Trump's top health official wants to overhaul how companies introduce ingredients into the food supply, a move that could alter a decades-old system and address criticism over insufficient oversight.

It’s time to revamp the FDA’s “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, program that allows companies to add untested ingredients to food, the Health and Human Services secretary says. That may be difficult to do.

For far too long, ingredient manufacturers and sponsors have exploited a loophole that has allowed new ingredients and chemicals, often with unknown safety data, to be introduced into the U.S. food supply without notification to the FDA or the public,