Jim Jones, the top of the Meals and Drug Management’s (FDA) meals department, resigned Monday, bringing up the mass firings of company team of workers.Consistent with a replica of his resignation letter considered via The Hill, Jones stated the “indiscriminate firing” of 89 team of workers individuals in his department would undermine the schedule championed via newly showed Well being and Human Products and services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.“I used to be having a look ahead to running to pursue the Division’s schedule of making improvements to the well being of American citizens via decreasing diet-related persistent illness and dangers from chemical compounds in meals,” Jones wrote. However he stated it will be “fruitless” to proceed in his function because of the Trump management’s “disdain for the very other people vital to put into effect” that schedule.“The indiscriminate firing of 89 team of workers within the Human Meals Program is past quick sighted,” Jones added. “Their termination can be another roadblock to attaining the Secretary’s said goals of constructing The united states wholesome once more.”In his letter, Jones stated that the team of workers individuals laid off “constitute the way forward for the company.”The FDA press administrative center didn’t in an instant reply to a request for remark.Jones’s resignation used to be first reported Monday via the meals business publication Meals Repair.Whilst protecting the company schedule, Jones additionally singled out Kennedy’s persevered assertions that the FDA is corrupt and too beholden to company particular pursuits.“The Secretary’s feedback impugning the integrity of the meals team of workers, saying they’re corrupt in response to falsities is a disservice to everybody,” Jones wrote. He famous that the meals program is greater than 99 % funded via congressional appropriations, no longer business consumer charges.Jones joined the FDA in 2022 following a recall of toddler system that resulted in a national scarcity. He maximum just lately oversaw a ban at the Purple No. 3 dye in meals, which got here within the waning days of the Biden management.Scott Faber, senior vice chairman of presidency affairs on the Environmental Running Workforce advocacy group, stated Jones’s resignation “is a large step backward for the FDA and the protection of our meals.”“If the management is really dedicated to creating The united states more healthy, the management must rescind cuts to meals protection team of workers and plead with Jim to go back to the FDA to complete the paintings he began,” Faber stated in a remark. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This subject matter will not be printed, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the most recent information, climate, sports activities, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
