The head of the food division at the US Food and Drug Administration has quit in protest over sweeping staff cuts that he warns will hamper the agency’s ability to protect public health.
Jim Jones, who joined the agency in September 2023, cited “indiscriminate” layoffs to 89 staff members, including key technical experts. In his resignation letter to the acting FDA commissioner, Sara Brenner, seen by Bloomberg News, Jones said the cuts would make it “fruitless” to continue in his role given the Trump administration’s “disdain for the very people” needed to implement food safety reforms.
“I was looking forward to working to pursue the department’s agenda of improving the health of Americans by reducing diet-related chronic disease and risks from chemicals in food,” Jones wrote.
Some of those recent efforts include the January banning of controversial food dye Red No 3, a bright red color additive that was found to cause cancer in male lab rats.
Specialists in nutrition, infant formula and food-safety response, including 10 staff members responsible for reviewing potentially unsafe food ingredients, were targets of layoffs, according to the letter.
The FDA did not respond to a request for comment.
The White House defended the staff changes, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling Bloomberg some “bureaucrats” were resistant to implementing the president’s agenda.
“President [Donald] Trump is only interested in the best and most qualified people who are also willing to implement his America First Agenda on behalf of the American people,” Leavitt said in an email. “It’s not for everyone, and that’s okay.”
