Policy & Advocacy
Policy and advocacy work are keys to achieving our strategic objectives at the Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security. Our work involves drafting and joining sign-on letters to policy- and lawmakers.
Sign-On Letters
- 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
In early February 2026, Gabby Headrick, IFSAN Associate Director of Food and Nutrition Policy, joined more than 200 experts to request that U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reconsider the recently released 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
"We call on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—as well as professional medical and nutrition associations—to issue science-based dietary guidance that truly promotes health and prevents chronic disease," the letter states.
Read the full letter:
- Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act , H.R. 2715 and S.3213
IFSAN and members of the Safe Food Coalition call on Congress to pass the Destruction of Hazardous Imports Act , H.R. 2715 and S.3213. The bills empower the Food and Drug Administration to require the destruction of imported foods it deems to be a public health hazard.
Read the full letter:
- Maximum Line Speeds for Swine and Poultry Slaughtering Facilities
IFSAN signed onto two letters with other members of the Safe Food Coalition to oppose two new rules regarding maximum line speeds for slaughtering facilities where hogs and young chicken and turkeys are harvested. The letters outline that increasing maximum line speeds poses the following:
- Unreasonable foodborne illness risk
- Fewer consumer protections
- Decreased safety of pork and poultry
- Superfluous language in proposed rule
- Worker safety
Read Comments on Proposed Rule: Maximum Line Speed Under the New Swine Slaughter Inspection System (Docket No. FSIS-2025-0009):
Read Comments on Proposed Rule: Maximum Line Speed Rates for Young Chicken and Turkey Establishments Operating Under the New Poultry Inspection System (Docket No. FSIS-2025-0012)
Public Comment
- Exploring Practical Strategies to Reduce Salmonella in Poultry Products
IFSAN submitted a public comment to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) following a January 14, 2026, public meeting for exploring practical strategies to reduce Salmonella in poultry products.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Salmonella causes more than 1 million illnesses each year. In its letter to the inspection service, IFSAN stressed that to correct insufficiencies in the current system, FSIS should
- support rapid-testing development
- monitor serotypes, virulence factors, and resistance genes
- implement enforceable standards
- declare Salmonella an adulterant
- reinstate the Salmonella Framework
Read the full letter: