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April 25, 2025<\/b> \u2013 Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) withdrew a rule<\/a> proposed under former President Biden that would have allowed the agency, for the first time, to stop chicken contaminated with salmonella from reaching consumers.<\/p>\n Currently, the USDA tests for salmonella, alerts consumers to food safety concerns, and issues voluntary recalls, but it can\u2019t pull products off the shelves. Food safety watchdog groups had called<\/a> the agency\u2019s move to change that reality \u201cone of the greatest advances in food safety in a generation.\u201d But Biden\u2019s USDA didn\u2019t finalize the rule, making it easy for the incoming administration to scrap it.<\/p>\n Those same groups slammed the decision, saying that more Americans will get sick as a result. Salmonella is responsible for<\/a> more than a million infections and 400 deaths in the U.S. annually.<\/p>\n \u201cThe administration is sending the message that consumers will be on their own when it comes to protecting their families from foodborne illness,\u201d Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n That message is more pronounced, Ronholm said, because many other deregulatory actions within the Trump administration could impact food safety. Those include staff and budget cuts, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration\u2019s decision to delay a rule to improve traceability in supply chains, the elimination<\/a> of food safety advisory committees, and faster line speeds permitted in meatpacking plants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n