FDA's food agenda, one year in with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary

The FDA is nearly a year into its MAHA era. The rhetoric has been bold — food dyes, ultra-processed foods, infant formula, GRAS reform. But what's actually happened? And what might still be coming? Helena got down to brass tacks with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary during a fireside chat on stage at the National Food Policy Conference in Washington, D.C.

Commissioner Makary came into this role as a surgical oncologist and researcher who spent decades at Johns Hopkins — and who had already written extensively about food and nutrition before taking the job (unusual for an FDA commissioner).

In this conversation, they cover a lot of ground: the plan to phase out synthetic food dyes, the coming definition for ultra-processed foods, the overhaul of infant formula standards, GRAS reform, and what front-of-pack labeling might actually look like under this administration.

Highlights:

– Makary sees the food side of FDA as one of the biggest opportunities of his tenure; he thinks it's been under-appreciated for years

– The plan to phase out petroleum-based synthetic food dyes

– FDA's coming definition for ultra-processed foods, expected by April or May, and how it might factor into labeling

– Rethinking front-of-pack labeling: why this administration isn't planning to just move forward with the Biden-era proposal

– Overhauling the infant formula monograph for the first time in decades

– GRAS reform: where the proposed rule stands and what Makary says about FDA's authority to close the loophole

– How AI is being used to speed up scientific reviews and help target inspections

Where to find Commissioner Makary:

Dr. Makary’s website

@DrMakaryFDA on X

Mentioned in this episode:

Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health by Marty Makary

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Check out Forked, the food politics podcast Helena co-hosts with the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

Credits: This episode was edited by Adrienne Cruz. Original music by David Bottemiller.