A new emergency spending bill passed by the Senate contains provisions that block or postpone several federal food safety regulations, according to legislative text shared publicly. The measures, added quietly to a funding package to avoid a government shutdown, target federal rules that were designed to prevent contamination on farms, improve outbreak traceability, and reduce health risks associated with ultra processed foods.
The timing is significant. Last year saw “a doubling of Americans who were hospitalized or killed by contaminated food outbreaks,” according to data compiled by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. The Government Accountability Office has also reported that there are “10 million cases of foodborne illnesses annually in the United States (and) these illnesses result in about 53,300 hospitalizations and over 900 deaths.”
Despite these figures, senators inserted language prohibiting the government from enforcing the FDA rule known as the “Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods,” published on Nov. 21, 2022. The legislation prevents federal agencies from using funds to implement or enforce the rule, and an additional clause delays implementation until 2028. That language mirrors a recent extension proposed by Trump administration food regulators and supported by industry groups.
The traceability rule itself dates back to the first Trump administration. It was proposed during the pandemic, when COVID-19 raised serious concerns about vulnerabilities in food supply chains. The rule was written to establish improved record keeping across the supply chain so that regulators could more quickly identify the source of “foodborne illness outbreaks.” The rule applies to produce, seafood, and specific dairy products, including cheese, and exempts small businesses. After regulatory delays, the Biden administration finalized the rule in 2023.
Industry groups strongly opposed the measure. In public comments submitted to the FDA, the National Restaurant Association said the proposed rule was “unworkable, making compliance impossible, given the complex nature of the industry’s supply chains and business operations, as well as the continuing economic hardships to the industry from the COVID-19 pandemic.” The National Grocers Association claimed that the FDA “may have exceeded its authority” and argued that the rule would be “burdensome.” The National Fisheries Institute wrote that improving food tracking technologies “is a business benefit and is not necessary for food safety.” The United Egg Producers also submitted comments outlining concerns.
The shutdown deal goes further by targeting produce safety requirements that, according to the FDA, were created to “minimize the risk of serious adverse health consequences or death from consumption of contaminated produce” and to “provide reasonable assurances that the produce is not adulterated.” A line in the bill states that none of the funds may be used to enforce a 2015 FDA rule that had required stricter inspections for wine grapes, hops, almonds, and other crops. That rule also established water quality standards for irrigation and hygiene standards for farmworkers to reduce contamination risk.
Another section blocks the FDA from developing new sodium reduction rules. The funding bill prohibits the agency from advancing regulations for “long-term population-wide sodium reduction actions until an assessment is completed on the impact of the short-term sodium reduction targets.” High sodium foods are often considered “ultra-processed foods,” which the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute associates with increased risk of heart disease.
This restriction conflicts with rhetoric from the administration’s own health leadership. The White House’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, championed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., promoted guidelines “that emphasize unprocessed foods while strictly limiting high-fat, high-sugar, and high-sodium processed items.”
The rollback of federal safety rules aligns closely with a year of heavy industry lobbying. Restaurant and food industry groups spent more than $13 million in 2025 lobbying the White House, Congress, the FDA, and other regulators on food tracking and related matters. The National Restaurant Association spent nearly $2.5 million lobbying lawmakers on issues including the traceability rule. The International Foodservice Distributors Association spent more than $600,000 during the same period.
Campaign contributions accompanied the lobbying. Two industry groups pushing for the delays gave more than $750,000 to congressional candidates from both parties and more than $145,000 to congressional campaign committees in the last election. At least $17,000 went to three of the seven Democratic senators who voted for the funding bill. The National Restaurant Association contributed $85,000 to political action committees tied to Republican leadership and tens of thousands to individual candidates, including $10,000 to Sen. Jacky Rosen’s 2024 election and $5,000 to Sen. Tim Kaine’s 2024 campaign. The National Grocers Association donated $1,000 each to Kaine and Sen. Dick Durbin, who also sided with Republicans in supporting the bill.
The shutdown deal has also generated internal division among Democrats, coming after a series of strong election results for the party. Some lawmakers criticized the bill for failing to extend pandemic era health care subsidies while endorsing regulatory changes that favor large industry groups.
The consequences of the bill’s food safety riders are likely to unfold over several years. Delays in traceability standards mean federal officials will have limited ability to compel record keeping that tracks food items from origin to sale. The suspension of produce inspection rules removes mechanisms that were created to prevent contamination in major agricultural sectors. The freeze on sodium reduction rules slows federal efforts to address chronic health risks linked to ultra processed foods.
At a time when contaminated food is hospitalizing tens of thousands of Americans every year, the shutdown bill represents a significant shift in the balance between public health protections and industry priorities. Through a combination of lobbying pressure, political spending, and legislative maneuvering, industry groups succeeded in weakening key safety measures in a single funding package meant to keep the government open.
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