US FDA suspends milk quality tests amid workforce cuts

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

US FDA suspends milk quality tests amid workforce cuts

Leah Douglas
Mon, April 21, 2025 at 5:13 PM EDT 2 min read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Food and Drug Administration is suspending a quality control program for testing of fluid milk and other dairy products due to reduced capacity in its food safety and nutrition division, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.

The suspension is another disruption to the nation's food safety programs after the termination and departure of 20,000 employees of the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the FDA, as part of President Donald Trump's effort to shrink the federal workforce.

The FDA this month also suspended existing and developing programs that ensured accurate testing for bird flu in milk and cheese and pathogens like the parasite Cyclospora in other food products.

Effective Monday, the agency suspended its proficiency testing program for Grade "A" raw milk and finished products, according to the email sent in the morning from the FDA's Division of Dairy Safety and addressed to "Network Laboratories."

-snip-

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-fda-suspends-milk-quality-211319846.html

[SheltieLover]

1. I hope someone files suit on this!

[highplainsdem]

17. I do, too.

[Maru Kitteh]

2. You can't get tuberculosis from Oatmilk!

Fun fact, yes you can get tuberculosis from improperly pasturized dairy milk. Thanks to JustFuckedup Jr., some people will likely get to learn that lesson, again.

[CountAllVotes]

3. on local nextdoor.com ...

Today I read that 44% of the cattle tested positive for the bird flu.

Cover-up?

[hlthe2b]

8. Colorado is considered among the most impacted, if not the most impacted despite other states having

far more dairies. The assumption is that we have so many wild waterfowl that stay here throughout normal migration, but also so much wildlife that is susceptible and a source of infection to dairies (Peromyscus spp mice--e.g., deer mice, raccoons, skunks, domestic and feral cats, cougars, lynx, etc. etc.)

At any rate, Colorado Public Radio reported that nearly 50% of Colorado dairy herds had tested positive for H5N1 by July 26, 2024. StatNews noted that about 40% of herds had reported infections by July 22, 2024. These percentages indicate a significant portion of Colorado's dairy herds have been affected by the virus.

Note: This does NOT equate to 40% of milk being infected. Milk from infected herds is discarded. As long as milk is properly pasteurized, even if some slipped through (and I have confidence that is not happening in Colorado, at least to date), then it would be safe.

[PSPS]

4. There's that maga style guide again.

"effort to shrink the federal workforce" in reality is "effort to dismantle the federal government."

[hlthe2b]

5. Maybe boil your milk at home if you have qualms. I only use it to make yogurt (so it is boiled first) or

to use in hot lattes, so that too is steamed. Buy local!!! At least state officials will have (hopefully) exerted some control over dairies in their own jurisdiction. Of course none of this does anything to protect against toxic contamination, but...

This is one hell of a cluster...fk... Unbelievable.

[Bristlecone]

6. Raw milk is going to get a lot more raw I guess

This is some 3rd world bullshit.

[Pisces]

7. Organic milk is ultra pasteurized. I'd go with this to be on the safe side.

[newdeal2]

9. He's probably pushing raw milk next

Ugh. MAHA pseudoscience crap will become policy.

[Javaman]

10. He will

And watch as the cases of listeria explode

[Maru Kitteh]

14. Tuberculosis is also spread through raw milk. nt

[Javaman]

34. Way, the hits keep on coming

I think their mission is to kill us all by any means necessary

[sakabatou]

11. Like we need more food borne illness...

[orangecrush]

12. WTF??!!!

[Botany]

13. This is madness. Trump wants to kill us. Is that because that is what Putin wants?

Last edited Tue Apr 22, 2025, 02:22 PM - Edit history (1)

“The FDA's Milk Safety Cooperative Program provides assistance to state and local regulatory agencies in the prevention of communicable diseases and the implementation and enforcement of regulations related to the production and distribution of Grade "A" milk and milk products for human consumption.”

******************


How many people avoided sickness or death because of the FDA?

This is madness.

[dchill]

16. Trump doesn't want anything Putin doesn't want.

[sakabatou]

18. I know it's madness. Pure and utter chaos. It's what Shitler enjoys.

I tried really hard not to put a "300" meme here.

[Botany]

24. The FDA, extension agents, colleges and universities, and our dairy farmers have built a really great

… dairy industry in America and Trump or his people are working on trying to destroy a system
that is working very well. Let’s see Trump get up @ 4:30 AM and go and milk the cows and do
it again @ 5 PM along with feeding the cows, taking care of the manure, contracting with milk
haulers, and ….. God damn this shit pisses me off. Let Trump go out and safely move the breeding
bull to another barn. I have agricultural work in both sides of my family with my grandparents,
relatives, and friends. Put Trump on tractor and he would be dead in minutes.

What is next? Skipping meat inspections? So how much trichinosis do you want in your pork?

This is madness.

[littlemissmartypants]

25. Autogenocide...

Autogenocide exposes how states drive populations to destroy themselves through poisoned environments, collapsing healthcare, misinformation & engineered despair.

It's mass death by design & by the outright neglect of society.

AKA social murder.

[dchill]

15. I think we should all just wait to see what RFKjr says...

... don't get all crazy.

/SARK

[Skittles]

19. this will end well

[Bev54]

20. And Trump wants Canada to buy American dairy.

He can fuck right off. We already don’t want milk with steroids, what else would now be in it. Never ever giving up our supply management system

[BidenRocks]

21. How bad does a dairy want to go bankrupt?

If they are careless with our well being, we won't buy their products.
Regardless of the lack of government inspection, they know better.
Depraved indifference?

[flvegan]

22. So don't consume it. Pretty simple.

There are alternatives, most likely.

[GenThePerservering]

23. That's not the point. nt

[flvegan]

27. Okay then.

Tell the class what exactly you're going to do otherwise to stem the tide of what is happening right here, right now, today to avoid the ensuing problems.

The mic is yours.

[littlemissmartypants]

26. Who's to say that...

Those "alternatives" won't suffer the same fate?

"Slippery slope," anyone?

Nothing is safe, if no thing is safe.

[flvegan]

28. Post the article when they do. n/t

[littlemissmartypants]

30. ...

[Hekate]

29. Like I said when I read Dobbs, they are throwing us back 150 years. We just wish it was 50.

Special place in hell for them all.

[Irish_Dem]

31. Trump does not want a safe food supply.

Why?

[RockCreek]

32. You know who probably is ready for this?

Companies offering private testing, certification etc. Milk through those companies will of course cost at least 2 - 3x the previous cost.

[BoRaGard]

33. "Who care if some dumb proles get sick." - G.O.P.