“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” - John F. Kennedy

Tuesday. We have given the FDA a pretty hard time in the past on the Daily Tonic—and for good reason. As far as government agencies are concerned, the FDA is about as effective as the rest of the incompetent and corrupt alphabet soup our tax dollars pay for. But there is hope things might just get better. Let’s dive in.

Is the FDA Turning A New Leaf?

Thanks to the new deputy commissioner for human foods, some significant changes are coming to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Jim Jones has been on the job for less than a month, and he’s already making waves.

Last Thursday, he laid down the FDA’s top three priorities for food: reducing foodborne illnesses, cutting down diet-related chronic diseases, and focusing more on the safety of food chemicals. It seems like pretty obvious stuff, but it’s actually a pretty big deal.

This type of announcement means the FDA is paying more attention to stuff like food additives and packaging than they used to. If you’ve been wondering why everyone’s talking about the FDA lately, it's because they’ve come under a lot of heat for not doing enough to keep us safe. Even comedian John Oliver took a dig at them this past week. 

But Jones is starting his tenure and immediately doing things differently. He held an hour-long Zoom call with reporters, answering questions on various topics. That’s new for the FDA; they usually only talk to the press when there’s some big announcement. And the kicker? Jones said some things that show early promise for positive changes coming down the pipeline.

For starters, he mentioned that the FDA’s plan to get food companies to use less salt is actually showing some promise. It’s not a done deal, but it’s a start. Jones said that if they find out it’s not working, they’ll change course.

Jones also acknowledged that diet-related diseases like diabetes and heart problems are getting worse in the U.S. He said we’ve got to turn this around, and it will take a team effort. The FDA is trying to help by doing things like putting helpful labels on food packages.

Imagine that? The FDA is actually recognizing the fact that we have a nutrition-related chronic disease problem in the U.S. It took them long enough—but it’s better late than never, I guess.

Public trust in the FDA is also at an all-time low right now. When asked how he plans to rebuild that trust, Jones had a simple answer: do better work. He’s already been meeting with lawmakers, state officials, and other agencies to figure out how to improve. And it’s not just to make friends; he’s doing it to learn how to make the FDA better. It’s not just talk; the man seems focused on results.

The key takeaway? At face value, it really does seem as though Jones and the FDA are focusing on making our food safer, whether it’s from disease or chemicals. They also want to help us be healthier by focusing on diet-related diseases and better food labeling. Jones has even opened the door to reporters, a refreshing change we haven't seen from the FDA in the past. Let’s just say people are hopeful that under Jones, the FDA will become an agency we can all trust more. It might be too early to tell, but these first steps look promising, and that is a positive note we are happy to write about.

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