U.S. Food and Drug Administration Suspends Milk Quality Testing Despite Avian Flu Concerns

The horrifically cruel realities of the dairy industry know no bounds, and both documented abuse and unseen acts of brutality behind closed doors occur daily. Furthermore, bird flu outbreaks have reached the dairy industry, resulting in contaminated milk at best, and fatalities among dairy cows and human laborers at worst.

With all of these harsh truths running rampant through the dairy industry, a recent announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has public health experts worried.

With milk being wasted at astounding rates, inappropriate and perplexing advocacy for raw milk reaching a fever pitch, and the Trump Administration axing countless governmental jobs throughout important agencies, the U.S. is in for another terrifyingly bumpy road.

Especially amongst vulnerable populations, the latest FDA news may spell the end for dairy milk drinkers. Here's what we know about the latest FDA news.

As The Washington Post reports, the FDA has suspended quality control testing of dairy products, including milk, which was intended to safeguard against those in the U.S. consuming dairy products with harmful contaminants.

Referred to as a “proficiency testing program,” the FDA previously sent "milk samples — some of which are intentionally tainted — to labs at dairy processing centers to test whether the labs correctly screen them," per The Washington Post.

Per The Guardian, "the agency suspended its proficiency testing program for grade 'A' raw milk and finished products," and the halting of quality assurance testing was effective as of April 21.

The halting of quality testing occurs amid President Donald Trump's recent slashing of 20,000 employees from the Department of Health and Human Services.

It is surely no coincidence, then, that the FDA is one of the agencies affected by those mass layoffs, which also occurred as high-ranking officials like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., advocate for raw milk.

Although dairy industry lobbyists and executives, as well as the FDA, have all publicly expressed zero concern about this measure, those who are based in reality feel much differently.

“The FDA’s suspension of quality control testing for milk is a reckless move that puts public health at risk," Switch4Good founder and executive director Dotsie Bausch tells Green Matters exclusively. "Milk is already a prominent source of intense digestive distress for millions of Americans, especially communities of color. Without effective oversight, the risk of contamination increases significantly."

It appears that the FDA intends to resume testing milk once a suitable replacement lab for milk test processing is operational, despite President Trump proposing $40 billion in cuts from the health department.

According to Reuters, the suspension of quality assurance testing occurred because the FDA's facility where tests were processed, "is no longer able to provide laboratory support for proficiency testing and data analysis," per the FDA's April 21 announcement.

"Non-dairy milk options, by contrast, offer safer and nutritionally rich alternatives without the wildly unhealthy additives and ethical concerns tied to Big Dairy," Bausch explained. "If we truly care about public health, safety, and food justice, we must instead prioritize non-dairy options in our food system and ditch dairy once and for all.”