Vision for a Reimagined 

FDA Human Foods Program

KEY ELEMENTS OF A UNIFIED HUMAN FOODS PROGRAM

On January 31, 2023, the FDA provided an update on the agency’s new vision for the FDA’s Human Foods 

Program following evaluations released last year. The agency will continue to collaborate with federal partners 

on a whole-of-government approach to food safety and nutrition. This fact sheet summarizes key components 

of Commissioner Califf’s vision for a unified and reimagined Human Foods Program. These include:

•	 A unified Human Foods Program will be created by combining the Center for Food Safety and Applied 

Nutrition (CFSAN), Office of Food Policy and Response (OFPR) and certain functions of the Office of 

Regulatory Affairs (ORA) under one leader.

•	 An empowered Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods will be established to provide executive 

leadership and strategic direction over the entire portfolio, including resource allocation strategy, risk 

prioritization, integrated food safety partnership programs, communications, policy initiatives, and 

cultural transformation.

•	 A larger executive team for the Human Foods Program will be put in place with clearly defined 

lines of authority to ensure decisive leadership over the program’s vast responsibilities. This includes a 

Principal Associate Commissioner for Human Foods position, reporting to the Deputy Commissioner, 

to provide strong, effective operational management of the program’s day-to-day operations. In 

addition, a team of executives for the program’s major areas of responsibility will be created to provide 

the necessary management infrastructure.

Vision: How a

Unified Human

Foods Program

will be Formed
•	 A Center for Excellence in Nutrition will be created to elevate and empower action on nutrition 

science, policy, and initiatives to reduce diet-related chronic diseases and improve health equity. An 

Office of Critical Foods will be included within this center to manage the regulation of infant formula 

and medical foods.

•	 An Office of Integrated Food Safety System Partnerships will be formed to prioritize and unify the 

FDA’s work with state and local regulators and strengthen the nation’s Integrated Food Safety System 

as envisioned in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.

•	 A Human Foods Advisory Committee of external experts will be set up to advise the FDA on 

challenging or emerging issues in food safety, nutrition, and innovative food technologies.

•	 These changes will allow for improved communication, efficiency and workflow with better 

information technology, digitization and algorithms as envisioned in the New Era of Smarter Food Safety.

Vision: Key

Structures of

the Human

Foods Program

Vision: Key

Executive

Responsibilities

of Deputy

Commissioner for

Human Foods
•	 An Office of Animal Biotechnology Innovation in the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM)

will be created to advance the FDA’s ongoing smart regulation of animal biotechnology. There will be 

a robust cross collaboration between CVM and the Human Foods Program on agricultural 

biotechnology innovation.

•	 An expansion of the CVM Director’s role to include duties of Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) to 

strengthen the center’s One Health role and connection to the Human Foods Program as it continues 

to collaborate across the agency on issues that have implications for human, environmental, and 

animal health. In cases where the CVM Director is not a veterinarian, the duties will be held by a senior 

veterinarian in CVM leadership.

Vision: An

Integrated ORA

Supporting

the Entire FDA

Portfolio

REIMAGINING THE OFFICE OF REGULATORY AFFAIRS

A new model for ORA will focus on its core activities – setting the global gold standard in inspections, 

investigations, laboratory analysis, and import operations. This model will better integrate ORA with all FDA 

regulatory programs by:

•	 Improving the risk prioritization and public health impact of the FDA’s field activities. ORA’s goals 

will be set by the regulatory programs and take a more prevention-based approach to food safety 

inspections as envisioned in the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.

•	 Modernizing the FDA’s field activities. ORA will focus on strengthening and modernizing its core 

operations and increase its specialization in concert with the regulatory programs.

•	 Creating operational efficiencies. Certain ORA functions will be realigned into the Human Foods 

Program and other regulatory programs or with agency-wide services to create a more streamlined 

organization. For example, state and local food safety partnership functions will be unified into the 

Human Foods Program.