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The plan unveiled by FDA Commissioner Robert Califf reorganizes the overlapping food divisions by putting a single deputy commissioner in charge of food policy and regulation within the agency. Putting one official in charge of most food-related issues “unifies and elevates the program while removing redundancies, enabling the agency to oversee human food in a more effective and efficient way,” Dr. Califf said in a statement. Dr. Califf said the FDA would conduct a national search to fill the new position. (Peterson, 1/31)

Crucially, though, the FDA’s high-powered Office of Regulatory Affairs — responsible for investigations, inspections, laboratory testing and import controls — will remain independent and serve functions across the FDA, including drugs and medical devices. Some food safety advocates say that keeping regulatory affairs separate, along with the Center for Veterinary Medicine, which works closely with the human foods division, could significantly hinder the efficacy of a new food czar. (Bogage, 1/31)

FDA’s major overhaul of its foods division won’t include reassigning or firing any employees involved in the agency’s delayed response to the baby formula crisis, Commissioner Robert Califf said Tuesday. Califf rolled out his “new, transformative vision” of the main agency tasked with overseeing food safety in the U.S. He didn’t include any specific plans to address internal FDA breakdowns around infant formula, and instead focused on general restructuring to boost food safety efforts. But the FDA chief, asked during a press briefing, said he doesn’t have any plans to fire or reassign any FDA officials involved in the internal agency breakdowns as part of the larger reforms to the FDA’s Human Foods Program. (Hill, 1/31)

“This is one of the most important changes in the history of the FDA,” Califf said in an interview. The move merges two existing FDA programs and some regulatory authorities. Tapping a single leader “unifies and elevates the program while removing redundancies, enabling the agency to oversee human food in a more effective and efficient way,” Califf said. (Aleccia, 1/31)