SILVER SPRING, MD — Amid requests for information (RFIs) regarding ingredients like BHT and ADA and piloting one-day assessments, the FDA is also undergoing some changes to its leadership body.
SILVER SPRING, MD — Amid requests for information (RFIs) regarding ingredients like BHT and ADA and piloting one-day assessments, the FDA is also undergoing some changes to its leadership body.
After just over a year as FDA commissioner, Marty Makary resigned from the role May 12. The move has rippled throughout the organization as Kyle Diamantas, previously overseeing the department’s Human Foods Program, is now acting commissioner for the government agency. A search is underway to secure a new permanent head of the FDA.
With Diamantas’ departure from Human Foods, Donald Prater, a veteran FDA employee, has taken up the mantle. As acting deputy commissioner of food, he will oversee all nutrition and food safety activities, including resource allocation, risk-prioritization strategy and decision making, policy initiatives, and response activities. He is also tasked with overseeing food resources for the Office of Inspections and Investigations.
Given the prioritization of the Make America Healthy Again movement and correlating initiatives, such as the phasing out of certain ingredients, both acting commissioners’ extensive background in food policy are in alignment with the Trump administration’s key objectives.
Since the current administration took office, the FDA has made an assortment of announcements impacting the baking industry as a whole. In addition to the aforementioned RFIs, the agency has also made changes regarding phrases such as “no artificial colors” and the pending definition of ultra-processed foods, as well as furthered efforts to require on-package gluten disclosure.
