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Two federal committees tasked with advising policymakers on food safety have been disbanded as part of the administration’s cost-cutting and government-shrinking goals, according to advocates and one committee member. The elimination of the panels, whose members included experts from academia, industry and nonprofits, has raised alarms among some food-safety advocates, who point to large-scale outbreaks in recent years as a reason for needing even more attention and modern science around the issue. (Heil, 3/10)

The Agriculture Department has axed two programs that gave schools and food banks money to buy food from local farms and ranchers, halting more than $1 billion in federal spending. Roughly $660 million that schools and child care facilities were counting on to purchase food from nearby farms through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program in 2025 has been canceled, according to the School Nutrition Association. (Brown, 3/10)

Around 300 groups representing the food and agriculture sectors urged the Trump administration to use “sound, quality science” when seeking to improve the health of American citizens. In a letter to department heads including US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the organizations that represent soybeans to maple syrup said they were eager to share “significant concerns regarding unfounded criticisms levied against the safety of the food and agricultural value chain.” (Chipman, 3/11)

Cargill Inc. said the US food industry can’t fully replace seed oils as there aren’t enough alternatives in the market. The world’s largest commodities trader said the best substitutes for things like soybean and canola oil make up just a fraction of the total volumes needed by the industry. Science supports the health benefits of oilseeds, said Florian Schattenmann, Cargill’s chief technology officer. (Hirtzer, 3/10)