There is not an hour that goes by when one does not get bombarded with print or electronic advertisements from pharmaceutical manufacturers hawking one drug or another. All this may come to an end as two Independent Senators, Bernie Sanders (VT) and Angus King (ME), have introduced legislation that would ban drug manufacturers from using direct-to-consumer advertising to promote their drug products. Permitting drug manufacturers to advertise has only been allowed since 1997 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed the rules.
The proposed bill has a tough and long road ahead of it as the country’s powerful drug manufacturers and advertising industry will surely oppose the bill. Their position is that drug ads serve a useful purpose in educating consumers about disease awareness and ads provide an open door so consumers can seek treatment options and consult with their physicians. Of course, they won’t tell you that drug advertising is also a major component of the hundreds of billions of dollars spent within the advertising industry in the U.S. each year. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services, wants to change the rules and said, “The U.S. is one of only two countries in the world that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to consumers.” By the way, the other country is New Zealand. Betcha didn’t know that! Stay Tuned!
Drug Review Process To Be Shortened
On a related topic involving the government’s oversight of the drug industry, the FDA announced last month some major changes to the formal drug review process for U.S. drug manufacturers. A proposed pilot program, the National Priority Voucher Program, will provide “vouchers” to drug manufacturers to help streamline the final steps for a drug review process that now can take years to a month’s time!
Dr. Marty Makary, the new FDA commissioner, explained in a press release that the new voucher program will cut red tape using artificial intelligence to more rapidly review lengthy and comprehensive drug submission documents and also make his FDA review staff more accessible. This bit of news from the FDA sounds promising and will surely be welcomed by the drug industry.
Consolidating Federal Food Safety Agencies
U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) has introduced legislation that calls for a study to evaluate merging agencies such as the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the FDA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to Food Safety News, “These agencies currently share responsibilities for ensuring food safety in the United States but operate independently which Cotton argues leads to inefficiencies.”
The legislation, if enacted and signed into law, would mandate Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to initiate a formal study within 60 days of enactment of the legislation, with a formal report on merger possibilities due to Congress within a year. This may play well into the hands of President Trump who continues to seek efficiencies throughout every level of the federal government. The purpose of the study is to provide hard data-driven insights to restructure the federal food safety system, thus reducing redundancies and improving responses to foodborne illness outbreaks, among other benefits.
Food Costs Remain A Top Concern for Americans
The Berman Company’s latest consumer newsletter reported that food prices remain a top concern for Americans, with 62 percent saying that food costs are extremely or very important when deciding what to buy. The research was noted from new data streamed from the nonpartisan Pew Research Institute. Since January 2020, prices of groceries have surged driven by inflation and trade policy shifts. At the same time, nine out of 10 U.S. adults say healthy foods also become more expensive since the pandemic, further complicating choices in the grocery aisles. Trump campaigned on a promise to lower food prices. I don’t know about you, but I’m still waiting.
Food Stamp Use Declining
At press time, Congress (primarily Democrats) continues to slam the $300 billion in food assistance cuts included in the Republicans’ budget “big, beautiful” reconciliation bill, after the bill was voted out of the House. The proposed cuts in food assistance programs, coupled with a growing trend of the use of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by needy consumers, is going to have a marked impact upon food retailers. At press time, the bill was still being debated so we will report more on this topic next month after the reconciliation bill passes Congress.
A new, recent report from marketing data firm Numerator showed however, that food stamp usage in a few U.S. states has dropped to levels not seen since the pandemic. Total grocery store trips that utilized SNAP benefits have declined to 3.7 percent in 2025 already, compared to 4.6 percent in 2024. The reduction in SNAP spending has the largest impact on mega grocers like Walmart and Kroger which are the two biggest recipients of SNAP dollars, according to a recent article in Supermarket News. News reports show that Congressional Republicans’ budget cuts will cause higher grocery costs for millions of Americans each month whose food assistance through the SNAP program may be taken away or reduced. Again, we will see how all this pans out next month.
Cell-Cultivated Salmon Debuts
An article caught my attention recently in the Ag Funder Newsletter stating that San Francisco-based Wildtype will be the first company to launch cell-cultivated seafood in the U.S. after securing an FDA approval letter regarding the safety of its new cell-cultured salmon. Wildtype is the fourth cultivated-protein producer to complete a U.S. pre-market scientific and safety consultation after UPSIDE Foods, GOOD Meat, and Mission Barns, and the third to have full approval to sell its product. For you food techies, and according to a recent scientific memo published by FDA, the cells used to establish Wildtype’s cell lines were originally isolated from coho salmon from a Washington state hatchery at the “fry” stage of development, shortly after the fish hatched from the egg. This fascinating technology may soon be coming to the seafood department of a store near you!
Safer Foods In Store
The FDA is seeking input from the food industry on a new method for ranking chemicals in food for post-market assessments. The proposed new procedures will provide a transparent, systematic, and science-based approach to determine which chemicals the agency would prioritize for post-market assessments through the agency’s post-market Chemical Review Program.
The goal of the new FDA initiative is to determine if a chemical ingredient needs to be further evaluated based on new information to thus ensure that the FDA’s reviews are protective of the public health. Look at it this way: FDA now wants to check ‘before AND after’ foods are manufactured to fully ensure the safety of post-market assessments of chemicals in the food supply. Sounds complicated but from my viewpoint, it is a good idea.
Digital Shelf Labels
The Associated Press published a lengthy story last month with the banner headline “Shoppers, Lawmakers Remain Skeptical of Digital Shelf Labels at Grocery Stores.” The detailed full-page article mentioned that digital electronic shelf labels have been slow to migrate to U.S. grocery stores (currently about five to 10 percent use them now) compared to a whopping 80 percent in Europe.
However, what caught my attention was that lawmakers in a number of U.S. states have already begun to introduce legislation to limit the use of digital shelf labels with the thought that grocers could rip off shoppers by frequently changing the electronic shelf pricing labels. It reminded me of when computer-assisted checkouts were first introduced in the early 1970s. Lawmakers from many states were strongly against the technology stating that if prices were not marked on every can, jar, box, or bottle, consumers would get ripped off. That position was sure proven totally inaccurate. Let’s hope that these misplaced electronic shelf labeling fears are tossed out with the trash.
Barry Scher is associated with the public policy firm of Policy Solutions LLC and can be reached at [email protected].
