USDA, FDA turf battles hamper responses to outbreaks like H5N1 bird flu

WASHINGTON — On a bright June day in 2018, one of the nation’s top regulators waved groceries in the air, quizzing the secretary of agriculture on which agency is charged with monitoring different types of food.

Scott Gottlieb, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration at the time, grinned widely as he held liquid egg whites and a carton of eggs. The former is under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food safety purview. The eggs, under the FDA’s. The mood was jovial, winkingly acknowledging the complexity, and at times absurdity, in the way the government regulates food.

But in times of crisis, the splintered U.S. food regulation system is far from amusing. With an outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu spreading among dairy cattle, experts say that the longtime fractured nature of the U.S. food regulation system could hamper the federal response.

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