Food and Beverage News and Trends - May 15, 2026

Makary resigns. Martin Makary, MD, MPH, has resigned from his position as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner. Kyle Diamantas, most recently the Deputy Commissioner of Human Foods, will reportedly step in as acting commissioner. Diamantas is a lawyer with a strong FDA background – typically, this position is held by a scientist, e.g., a medical doctor, veterinarian, or PhD. As the lead for the Human Foods Program, Diamantas has helped drive several recent reform efforts, including the FDA’s newly finalized post-market assessment framework for food chemicals and the expansion of ongoing chemical reviews in the food supply. With Diamantas serving as Acting Commissioner, the agency could sharpen its focus on food chemical safety and other Human Foods Program priorities.

FDA announces one-day screening inspection pilot for low-risk facilities. On May 6, then-Commissioner Makary announced a new pilot program promising one-day inspectional assessments for low-risk facilities. Speaking at the Food and Drug Law Institute Annual Conference in Washington, DC, Makary said the program will use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify facilities for these abridged inspections. FDA launched the program internally in April and at this writing has evaluated 46 facilities via these one-day inspectional assessments. The pilot is being conducted across multiple FDA inspectorates, including human and animal foods, biologics, medical products, and clinical research programs. Currently, full inspections usually take several days, with agency inspectors assessing facilities’ cleanliness, policies and procedures, manufacturing data, and complaint handling, among many other details. Conducting shorter, targeted assessments of low-risk facilities, Makary stated, will allow FDA to focus more resources on high-risk sites and to “assess more facilities and gather critical insights without compromising regulatory rigor.” The more concise assessments, he added, “can provide timely feedback while minimizing operational disruption, particularly for lower-risk establishments.” The pilot program will continue through fiscal year 2026. FDA is developing evaluation metrics to assess the program’s effectiveness, including inspection duration, escalation rates, and the usefulness of its findings in guiding risk-based decision making.

FDA kicks off post-market assessment program with spotlight on BHT and ADA. On May 12, FDA launched its food chemical safety post-market assessment program, kicking off the study of products already on store shelves with assessments of two food additives – butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), a preservative commonly used in the US to extend the shelf life of foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and plastics, and azodicarbonamide (ADA), used in baked goods. Earlier this year, the American Bakers Association stated that 85 percent of its members have stopped adding ADA to their products, and the remaining 15 percent have committed to voluntarily phase it out. BHT has been banned in the European Union since 2005. FDA further issued two requests for information (RFIs) on the use and safety of these additives in food. To support the post-market assessment program, FDA issued two documents: Enhanced Systematic Process for Post-Market Assessment of Chemicals in Food, which explains how FDA will organize the information it gleans on hazards arising from chemical additives, and Post-Market Assessment Prioritization Tool, which focuses on assessing food chemicals through the lens of public health risks. The RFIs for ADA and BHT are open through July 13.

Results from FDA’s large-scale testing of contaminants in infant formula. On April 29, FDA announced results from its study of chemical contaminants in infant formulas available on the US market. The testing was conducted as part of Operation Stork Speed, the Closer to Zero initiative, and the agency’s routine food surveillance work to help ensure safe, reliable, and nutritious infant formula for families across the US. The study, FDA stated, was the largest and most rigorous examination ever conducted on those products. The agency tested more infant formula than ever before and stated that “the results are clear: most products meet a high safety standard – but even small exposures matter for newborns.” FDA tested 312 infant formula samples representative of products sold at retail across the US – powders, ready-to-feed liquids, and concentrated liquids – seeking to determine whether the products contained such contaminants as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, certain pesticides, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and phthalates. According to FDA’s report, researchers concluded that “an overwhelming majority of samples had undetectable or very low levels of contaminants, affirming that the U.S. infant formula supply is safe.” While the US currently does not set a legal limit on the presence in infant formula of any of those, and regulatory standards regarding such chemicals as PFAS continue to evolve, FDA has signaled that this is simply the start of a long-term policy and regulatory process. Its press release on the report stated that FDA is following up with additional testing as part of the agency’s ongoing monitoring and oversight efforts and that the agency will take additional action where appropriate. FDA will continue to engage with manufacturers to reduce the levels of contaminants and work to establish action levels for contaminants in infant formula.

House passes 2026 five-year Farm Bill. The US House of Representatives has passed HR 7567, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, more commonly known as the 2026 Farm Bill. Negotiations, floor debates, and last-minute amendments led to the bill’s late-night passage on April 30. HR 7567 reauthorizes US Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs through fiscal year 2031. Among measures removed from the bill is one that would have allowed year-round sales of E15 – gasoline blended with 15-percent ethanol; at this writing, that measure is scheduled for a separate vote. Three pesticide-related provisions were also removed from the House bill: one that would have shielded pesticide manufacturers from certain liability claims, another that would have granted only the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the power to require warning labels on pesticides, and a third that would have blocked state and local governments from imposing restrictions on "the sale, distribution, labeling, application or use" of pesticides already approved by EPA. HR 7567 locks in an estimated USD187 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). It also includes a number of measures aiming to strengthen domestic fertilizer production – for instance, by providing grants and loans to small and mid-sized fertilizer producers to help them expand capacity and storage. The bill further contains a provision that would prohibit the purchase of agricultural land “by foreign adversaries and state sponsors of terrorism” as well as language that would prohibit states from imposing production standards on agricultural products from other states, which would affect animal welfare laws like California’s Proposition 12. Following its passage by the House, the Farm Bill has moved to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry. The current Farm Bill, which passed in 2018, expires on September 30.

FDA pilot program aims to support healthier school lunches. An FDA pilot program to help schools serve healthier lunches is already showing positive results, according to then-Commissioner Makary. The program, launched last fall, provides funding for the 2025–26 school year for schools to purchase fresh, whole foods; upgrade kitchen equipment for scratch cooking; and hire and train staff with the goal of reducing processed foods and eliminating heavy metals and chemicals from school lunches. Makary recently visited one of the pilot schools, the Academy for Global Citizenship, a charter school in Chicago, to see how it has put the funding to work. He stated the academy had, among other things, switched from using canned food to using more fresh fruit as well as cooking their own dried beans. The funding also allowed the school to hire a full-time baker. In his remarks during his visit, Makary noted that the academy’s shift from premade foods to meals cooked in house enabled the school to serve healthier foods: “They were able to reduce the amount of pesticides in school lunch by 50-80% and reduce heavy metals by 80-90%.” He did not elaborate on how those statistics were determined or whether the pilot includes chemical sampling of foods. An independent review committee selected more than a dozen schools to participate in the study, including in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Arkansas, with each school receiving roughly USD200,000 for the 2025–26 school year. Results of the pilot will reportedly be released this summer.

Brashears outlines food safety priorities at USDA. In a recent interview with MEAT+POULTRY, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Mindy Brashears, PhD, laid out her priorities for federal food safety policy. This is Dr. Brashears’s second stint in the role, having briefly served during the first Trump Administration. One priority, Brashears stated, is increasing maximum line speeds for poultry processors under the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS). The agency is also considering a similar measure via its New Swine Inspection System, which would allow establishments to determine their own line speeds. “We have all the data on food safety to show that there's no compromising of our food safety standards, so we feel good about that,” she said of the line speed changes. Another priority will be reconsidering how the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) responds to Salmonella outbreaks nationwide. “Instead of just tackling all Salmonella, we really want to focus on the most pathogenic Salmonella,” Brashears stated. She added that she will also be looking into ways to provide better service and technical support to very small and small meat facilities. Overall, Dr. Brashears noted that, amid constant changes in the way food is produced, FSIS needs to establish a regulatory foundation that will endure. She concluded, “Whatever we put together also has to be resilient because technology is always changing.”

Canadian federal government funds agri-tech automation network. Canadian federal government has announced up to CAD6.25 million in funding for the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network, an Edmonton-based non profit that supports agricultural technology innovation. Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Heath MacDonald stated that the funding, delivered through the Agricultural Clean Technology Program, aims to help Canadian companies move environmentally friendly technologies from testing into everyday use on farms, giving producers new tools to lower emissions, cut fuel costs, and improve efficiency.

Renewed legislative effort to curb corporate farmland ownership. S 4391/H8531, the Farmland for Farmers Act, which would ban new corporate ownership of US agricultural land, has been reintroduced in both houses of Congress. Of note: This bill is distinct from the measures in the Farm Bill that address ownership of farmland. Language in the bill states that between 2005 and 2025, the number of institutionally owned farm properties tripled, and the market value of that property grew from USD2 billion to USD16 billion. The bill states that “higher farmland prices provide an advantage to well-capitalized corporate interests who can often outbid independent family farmers.” With some exceptions, the reintroduced bill would allow farmland sales only to individuals or corporations consisting of 25 people or fewer who are actively engaged in farming. (Nonprofits, farmer cooperatives, and legal entities formed by heirs are exempt from that requirement.) It would block large corporations, multilayered subsidiaries, pension funds, and investment funds from purchasing or leasing agricultural land. The bill sets out civil and criminal penalties on corporate entities that violate these ownership restrictions – not least, such entities could be ordered to divest. More than 80 national, state, and local organizations and farmer advocacy groups have endorsed the new bill, such as the National Family Farm Coalition, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Food and Water Watch, R-CALF USA, and numerous farmers unions and alliances.

Four legislators urge FSIS not to increase line speeds. On May 4, four federal lawmakers wrote to FSIS opposing proposed rules that would increase line speeds for poultry and pork processing facilities and eliminate the disclosure of worker safety data. The legislators – Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representatives Ro Khanna (D-PA) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) – noted, “Even with existing line speed limits, severe injuries are frequent.” Urging FSIS not to move forward with the proposed rules, their letter concludes, “It is unacceptable to create a work environment that will increase the harm to workers and to subject them to more life-changing injury and the public to more foodborne illness.” See the letter here.

Canada invests CAD500,000 in the Standards and Trade Development Facility. The Standards and Trade Development Facility is a global partnership that aims to help developing countries strengthen food safety and plant and animal health systems. The funding aims to support projects that improve regulatory frameworks, upgrade inspection services and laboratory capacity, and help countries to comply with international food safety and agricultural health rules, aiming to make global food trade safer and more predictable for Canadian importers and exporters.

Two more consumer groups oppose FRESH Act. Two more consumer groups are calling on Congress to reject the FDA Review and Evaluation for Safe, Healthy and Affordable Foods Act, or FRESH Act. The bill, introduced in April by Representative Kat Cammack (R-FL), would nullify, retroactively and prospectively, all state legislation addressing chemicals in human foods, such as the various laws banning or restricting certain food additives. The Environmental Working Group states that the bill would, among other things, allow new chemicals to be added to food as long as the food chemical company submits a synopsis of the chemical manufacturer’s safety conclusion; allow new chemicals that have been reviewed only by industry-backed expert panels to be automatically regarded as GRAS and immediately used in food; and, when a chemical is determined by FDA to no longer be safe, would allow manufacturers to keep adding that chemical to food for up to two years unless there is a severe and imminent risk of harm. Consumer Reports, meanwhile, objects to the bill because it would “weaken existing regulations that provide a layer of critical protections for consumers.” Other groups that have already come out in opposition to the FRESH Act are the Center for Science in the Public Interest, US Right to Know, and Children’s Health Defense.

Duty-free access to UK returns for US beef exporters. On May 2, The Mid-West Farm Report stated that the US had regained duty-free access to the United Kingdom for beef exports. Part of a larger trade deal signed by the two countries last year, the landmark agreement sets a zero-duty quota of 13,000 metric tons for US beef, providing the first zero-duty export access to the UK since its exit from the European Union in 2020. Once the agreement is fully implemented, the annual value of US beef imports to the UK will reportedly grow fivefold, to USD200 million.

Concerns grow over fertilizer costs. According to an April survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation, US farmers are entering the planting season under mounting financial pressure, with fertilizer costs emerging as one of the most significant concerns. The survey of more than 5,700 farmers found that about 70 percent cannot afford all the fertilizer they will need this year. The financial strain cuts across regions and crops, underscoring how rising input costs are affecting farm operations nationwide, with potential knock-on effects for food prices. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted since late February, when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran. About a quarter of the global seaborne oil trade and one-third of fertilizer component shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the United Nations Trade and Development; disruption of shipping through the Strait has made it a critical chokepoint for agricultural inputs. The survey found that, in the US, the impact of these disruptions varies by region. In the US South, 78 percent of farmers report they are unable to afford all required fertilizer. Midwestern farmers are somewhat less affected, though nearly half still report affordability challenges. USDA Economic Research Service Commodity Costs and Returns data show that since 2020, fertilizer has accounted for 33 percent to 44 percent of operating costs for corn operations and 34 percent to 45 percent of wheat operating costs for wheat growers.

Relatedly, on May 11 USDA released the May issue of its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates Report (WASDE), in which it has lowered the 2026 US wheat production outlook to 1.56 billion bushels – the lowest volume in 54 years and the steepest April-to-May cut on record. The projection is being attributed to ongoing drought conditions in the Plains that have led to significant abandonment of winter wheat acres. WASDE also forecasts worldwide wheat production this year of 819.1 million tons, down 24.8 million tons year on year. Reportedly, rising diesel fuel prices and less use of fertilizer may further affect the wheat crop. WASDE further estimates a significantly smaller world wheat output. Finally, the report forecasts lower than expected volume for new-crop soybeans and slightly higher than expected volumes for corn.

Report: Canada is positioned to manage short term food inflation risks tied to global fertilizer shortages. According to a new report from Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada imports less than five percent of its fertilizer from the Middle East, limiting exposure to disruptions linked to the war in Iran, and benefits from strong domestic production, including its role as the world’s largest exporter of potash. While global fertilizer prices have risen and risks remain for some crops, higher inventories of canola and corn and access to North American nitrogen fertilizer supply provide near-term stability.

Swine exporter sues CFIA over alleged brucellosis testing issues. A Manitoba-linked swine exporter is suing the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), alleging faulty disease testing blocked pig shipments to South Korea caused major financial losses. True North Genetics states that the agency relied on a testing method that produces false positives for brucellosis – a disease not historically found in Canadian swine – leading to quarantines, destroyed animals, missed contracts, and lost market access. The company alleges officials ignored more reliable testing options and applied unnecessary restrictions, while the agency says it cannot comment on the case and maintains its actions were lawful.

Study shows nanoplastics may increase Salmonella virulence. A study by researchers at the University of Illinois Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition warns that polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs), which have become environmentally ubiquitous, can facilitate the ecological success of microbial communities. The study focused on Salmonella enterica, concluding that, by altering certain genes in the bacteria, “PS-NPs influence the viability, stress response, virulence, and antimicrobial resistance of S. enterica in ways that depend on concentration and time.” The findings, the scientists concluded, show the “potential of PS-NPs to alter bacterial behavior, which could impact food safety and public health,” for instance by prolonging Salmonella survival on processing equipment, promoting its dispersal through wastewater, and increasing its persistence on packaged ready-to-eat meat products. “These effects intensify concerns about pathogen transmission and resistance dissemination, emphasizing the necessity of monitoring NP contamination throughout food production chains, packaging materials, and water infrastructure,” the study stated. The research was led by Pratik Banerjee, PhD, who in an interview with Food Safety magazine cautioned against overreacting to the study. “We don’t want to sound the alarm and advocate that people stop using plastics,” he stated. “Plastic packaging provides a lot of benefits, such as reducing food spoilage and waste while keeping expenses low. We don’t know yet whether this is something we should be worried about.” See the study here.

Latest attempts to combat New World Screwworm. The New World Screwworm (NWS) sterile fly production plant being built in Metapa, Chiapas is 75-percent complete, Mexico’s National Service of Agro-Alimentary Public Health, Safety, and Quality (SENASICA) reports. The plant is expected to be fully operational in June. At present, the most successful technique for combating outbreaks of this dangerous parasite is to release sterile male flies, by the billions, into affected zones. Male NWS pupae are sterilized via irradiation, a process that damages their reproductive cells, before being released into the wild. Because female NWS flies mate only once, when they mate with a sterile male, they do not reproduce. This method has swiftly reduced NWS populations in past outbreaks. USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) recently applied to register a new sterilization technique, NovoFly, described as a technology incorporating a genetically engineered female-lethal trait that results in male-only sterile flies. NovoFly, the National Pork Producers Council stated on May 11, is “a targeted, species-specific and environmentally responsible alternative that aligns with modern integrated pest management principles.”

Avian flu update.

• For the last two years, USDA has required producers to test lactating cows for the presence of the H5N1 avian flu variant before moving them between US states – part of the federal surveillance program called the National Milk Testing Strategy. Recently, however, USDA removed that requirement for dairies in states considered “unaffected” by the virus. States ranked as unaffected under the Strategy will still be required to conduct ongoing surveillance to confirm the absence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a state’s dairy herds. Colorado, Indiana, and Wisconsin all have rescinded state-level orders regarding the movement of lactating cattle within state lines.
  
  
• A study in the May 7 Morbidity and Mortality Report from the CDC reports on the first known cat-to-human transmission of H5N1, in which a Los Angeles veterinary worker was infected by a sick housecat. The cat, the study noted, was one of several infected felines in California that had eaten commercially purchased raw milk, raw poultry, or raw pet food in the weeks preceding illness onset. In addition to urging veterinary professionals to exercise caution, the study advised pet owners not to feed raw animal products to cats. More than 150 cases of H5N1 have been documented in cats in 25 US states.
  
  
• A study of 14 H5N1-positive California dairy farms detected infectious virus in the air in milking parlors and wastewater streams, while viral RNA was found in cows’ exhaled breath, findings that suggest the virus may spread in a number of ways, not only through contaminated equipment. The researchers, led by a team from Emory University, stated, “These results highlight the extensive environmental contamination of H5N1 on affected dairy farms and identify additional sources of viral exposure for cows, peridomestic wildlife, and humans.” The study was published on May 5 in PLOS Biology.
  
  
• The CFIA will conduct a confined field trial to evaluate the logistics of administering H5N1 vaccines to commercial poultry. Confined field trials are small scale studies in a controlled environment, such as a poultry farm. Cynthia Philippe, CFIA Acting Veterinary Program Specialist, told The Western Producer that CFIA has licensed three different vaccines for the trial, not to test the efficacy of the shots “but rather to evaluate how vaccination could be implemented in practice, including the logistics and effectiveness of administering the vaccine to poultry.” The results of the trial, she added, will inform Canada’s vaccine strategy.