OFW’s Food & Agriculture team regularly monitors announcements and policy issuances from FDA, USDA, and other agencies to keep our clients apprised of regulatory developments that may impact their business. Here are a few of the significant developments from October. If you have any questions or would like more information, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- On September 30, 2025, FDA conditionally approved Dectomax-CA1 (doramectin injection) injectable solution for the prevention and treatment of New World Screwworm (NWS) larval infestations, and prevention of NWS reinfestation for 21 days. Dectomax-CA1 is conditionally approved for use only in cattle.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- On October 31, 2025, the Ninth Circuit issued a mixed ruling in Natural Grocers v. Rollins (USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)), holding that USDA erred by generally excluding highly refined foods with “undetectable” modified genetic material from the bioengineered disclosure scope, and directing the district court to prospectively vacate the QR code and text-message disclosure provisions it had previously found invalid; the court otherwise upheld USDA’s use of the term “bioengineered” instead of “GMO/GE.” In the opinion, the Ninth Circuit held that USDA has the authority under the amendments to the Agricultural Marketing Act to establish a threshold for “bioengineered foods” that would exclude products with undetectable levels of genetic material, but AMS would need to do so in a new rulemaking.
- As of November 1, 2025, USDA will not be providing federal food assistance, most notably standard federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), due to the government shutdown. This is affecting up to 42 million people nationwide, with initial funding for November SNAP benefits suspended and contingency funds only being accessed after court orders.
Other
- FDA and USDA are in the early stages of considering a Federal definition of Ultra-Processed Foods (UPF). On October 23, 2025, the comment period closed for the USDA and FDA Request for Information (RFI) regarding UPFs. Additionally, on October 8, 2025, CA AB 1264, also known as the Real Food Healthy Kids Act, passed and establishes the first-ever statutory definition of “ultra-processed foods” (UPFs) and aims to phase out particularly harmful UPFs from California public schools by 2035.
- As of October 1, 2025, the federal government shutdown has had significant impacts on both FDA and USDA operations. Despite both agencies continuing to assure that critical food safety and public health functions will continue despite reduced staffing, gaps have been seen. At FDA, about 86% of FDA staff are retained to perform essential activities. These activities include emergency response, outbreak investigations, recalls, safety surveillance, and inspections deemed necessary for protecting health and safety. However, routine inspections of food facilities are halted except for special circumstances. USDA is operating with limited funding and farm-facing programs like loans and disaster aid are on hold. Core food safety functions, such as meat, poultry, and egg product inspections, outbreak investigations, recalls, and lab work, continue with about 7% of FSIS staff furloughed. About half of USDA’s roughly 80,000 employees are furloughed, with substantial impacts on nutrition assistance programs, where over 90% of Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) staff are furloughed. Research and data collection at USDA’s research arms are severely impacted due to staffing reduction. At both agencies, delays are expected when it comes to expert consulting, communication between stakeholders and agencies, and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests.
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Please contact Kyla Kaplan (kkaplan@ofwlaw.com) if you have any questions or are interested in additional assistance.