Thank you!!

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Of course, it’s possible that the new administration has plans to bring in their own people to continue these functions. If so, it would still be a lengthy process to recruit and hire from scratch. Both FDA and HHS did not respond to my questions nor a request for comment.

That Kennedy was plugging a European-style regulatory system on Fox News is remarkable – a true sign of political realignment on this issue – but it’s not lost on FDA staff that it makes little sense right now to gut the government employees who do this very work.

“Many of the additives we have are just illegal in Europe,” Kennedy added. “We need to move more and more toward the European standard.”

Kennedy continued: "It’s about … allowing people to understand and empower them with understanding: That if you eat that, it may seem cheap, but it’s going to cost you in the long run. You’re going to get diabetes, etc.”

“First of all, I believe in freedom of choice,” Kennedy said. “If you want to eat Twinkies, you ought to be able to eat them, but you ought to know what’s in them. A lot of what I’m going to do is about radical transparency… "

Last week on Fox News, Kennedy was asked about the top three food additives he wanted to remove from the food supply.

It’s not clear what the administration has in mind for addressing food additives. At times, advisors have floated reforming the Generally Recognized as Safe system, but lately key officials have been emphasizing that they are not going to be heavy handed.

This move comes right as the new administration has gone all-in on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which has been extremely focused on concerns about food additives already on the market.

The post-market assessment office was particularly vulnerable to the mass layoffs because it was just hatched a few months ago and a high proportion of its staff were probationary. I don’t have exact figures, but I’m told the majority of staff were laid off.

One office w/in FDA’s new Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements, and Innovation was particularly hard hit: a new division tasked w/post-market assessment – in other words, the office charged with taking a harder look at the food chemicals already on the market.

Thousands of employees across HHS received emails Saturday night alleging that they were fired for poor performance, regardless of what their performance reviews said. This action targeted so-called probationary employees, who are often newer at the agency.

It’s difficult to get a full picture of the layoffs because of how abruptly this is all being handled, and because FDA is still not responding to press inquiries. Here’s what I’ve been able to gather so far from talking to folks inside the agency:

More on the poll here ⤵️

apnews.com/article/rfk-...

It's a stark contrast to what the poll found on vaccines