The U.S. Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released its requested fiscal 2025 budget, which includes funding for several nutrition-focused initiatives. 

According to a statement from the FDA Commissioner, Robert M. Califf, M.D.: 

“This new funding request will help us build on our accomplishments and also modernize our agency and operations as we plan for the future. Our request for critical investments will help us address our most urgent priorities, strengthen our public health capacity, advance IT capabilities, and improve agency-wide infrastructure. The budget will also support the FDA’s ability to prepare for, build resilience to, and respond to shortages, support the implementation of expanded cosmetics regulation, and protect and promote a safe, nutritious U.S. food supply.”

Here are some of the agency’s top nutrition-focused priorities for the requested budget: 

1. More regulation around supplements

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) was enacted 30 years ago. Since then, the dietary supplement market in the U.S. has evolved rapidly – growing from approximately 4,000 products to over 100,000 products today.

One of the legislative proposals that comes with this budget request includes updating DSHEA to better protect consumers. According to the proposal, these updates would include:

1. Requiring all dietary supplements to be listed with the FDA, including by providing the product label and other basic information.

2. Clarifying the FDA’s authorities over products marketed as dietary supplements.

These amendments would help the FDA have a better finger on the pulse when it comes to new products on the market, allowing them to quickly act on potentially illegal or dangerous supplements. 

2. Root cause investigation of foodborne illnesses

The agency’s request also includes $15 million to improve the safety of the U.S. food supply. 

Specifically, the announcement states that the “funds for the FDA’s human foods initiatives will modernize the FDA’s capacity to prevent or mitigate foodborne illness outbreaks by investing in necessary tools and processes to strengthen root-cause investigations.” 

This is critical because foodborne diseases can lead to a wide range of illnesses, ranging from gastrointestinal issues to immunological symptoms. Foodborne illnesses have also been shown to spread antibiotic resistance and affect the gut microbiome (1, 2)

3. Diet-related chronic diseases

Finally, the budget request also includes funding to help the FDA address diet-related chronic diseases and the goals of the President’s National Strategy for Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.

This is a critical issue that needs to be tackled, given that almost half of all American adults have one or more preventable chronic diseases, many of which are related to poor-quality eating patterns. These include cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and poor bone health. (3)

If approved, we may see significant actions coming out of the FDA starting this year with regard to supplement regulation, food supply safety, and the food-as-medicine movement. 

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Key Takeaways:

• The FDA recently released its fiscal 2025 budget, which targets several nutrition-focused initiatives. 
• Some of these initiatives revolve around supplement regulation, food supply safety, and chronic diseases. 
• If approved, the budget may lead to significant actions over the next year.