Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins: A Common-Sense Plan to Strengthen America's Food Safety

Newsweek

2 days ago

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When Americans sit down at the dinner table, they should have absolute confidence the food on their plates is the safest in the world. That's not just a slogan. It's a promise.
Under President Donald Trump's leadership, we are renewing this promise with a bold, common-sense strategy to modernize food safety, cut through outdated bureaucracy, and ensure American consumers have access to safe, affordable, and abundant meat and poultry products.
Food safety is national security. It is economic security. It is family security. In the Trump administration, we understand that protecting our food supply means giving our farmers, ranchers, processors, and inspectors the tools they need to do their jobs.
Secretary Brooke L. Rollins is pictured in Nebraska.
Secretary Brooke L. Rollins is pictured in Nebraska.
Photo Courtesy of Secretary Brooke Rollins
President Trump tasked me with moving quickly to modernize America's inspection system and in the earliest days at USDA, I directed my team to put forward clear, consistent rules to allow pork and poultry facilities to operate at higher line speeds, ensuring they can meet demand without excessive government interference. We're well underway at making that a reality, and this is just the first step.
That's why I'm proud to announce our new five-point plan to bolster USDA's work to combat foodborne illness. It's built on science, on accountability, and on good old-fashioned American common sense.
First, we're enhancing microbiological testing and inspection oversight. We're expanding our listeria testing to deliver faster, more detailed results so problems can be caught before they reach consumers. We're opening a modern, state-of-the-art laboratory in Missouri that will strengthen our ability to detect pathogens and chemical residues nationwide. Already this year, we have tested over 23,000 samples for listeria—a 200 percent increase from 2024. We're also conducting more in-person food safety assessments because nothing beats eyes on the ground.
Second, we're equipping our Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspectors with better tools and training. Our frontline inspectors are America's guardians of food safety. We're giving them a new data collection tool to track listeria risk factors in real time. We're updating training so they can spot systemic problems, not just one-off mistakes. This is how we empower our workforce to stop foodborne illness before it starts.
Third, we're charging ahead to reduce salmonella illnesses in poultry products. Let's be clear: We scrapped the Biden administration's overreaching, burdensome plan that would have crushed small poultry producers and processors with red tape. Instead, we're working with stakeholders to develop a practical, effective strategy that keeps families safe without destroying American livelihoods.
Fourth, we're strengthening state partnerships. Food safety is a shared responsibility. That's why we secured an additional $14.5 million for state inspection programs, supporting over 1,500 small and very small processors across America. We signed new cooperative agreements with all 29 states running meat and poultry programs, ensuring our inspectors are trained, equipped, and coordinated. This is the federal government working with, not dictating to, our states.
Fifth, we're empowering FSIS inspectors to enforce our rules and drive compliance. Let me be clear: If you won't follow food safety laws, there's no place for you in this market. In the first six months of this year alone, FSIS took 103 enforcement actions, an increase of 36 percent over last year. We're conducting follow-up visits to ensure problems are fixed.
This is what common-sense, America First leadership looks like. We're modernizing our inspection system. We're embracing science. We're removing needless bureaucracy that doesn't make food safer while strengthening the oversight that does.
Because at the end of the day, this is about the American family. It's about ensuring that moms and dads can serve dinner knowing it meets the highest food safety standards in the world.
That's our mission. That's our promise. And that's exactly what we're delivering.
Brooke L. Rollins is the 33rd United States secretary of Agriculture.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.