On March 28, the FDA announced that it requested a total budget of $8.4 billion as part of the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget. The request is nearly a 34% ($2.1 billion) increase over the Agency’s FY 2022 appropriated funding for investments in critical public health modernization, core food safety, medical product safety programs, and other vital public health infrastructure.

Specifically related to food, the request asks for $43 million in additional investments in food safety modernization, including animal food safety oversight. The budget will help support the agency’s continued implementation of the New Era of Smarter Food Safety and other core food safety efforts, as well as allocate regulatory oversight resources, improve the FDA’s capacity to quickly respond to ongoing public health challenges, and improve prevention-oriented food safety practices. The budget request provides significant funding to state animal food programs. In partnership with states, the FDA will expand efforts to modernize the US animal food inspection system to become more comprehensive and prevention oriented.

The budget also requests $14 million to improve health equity through nutrition. Specifically, the funding would reduce exposure to harmful chemicals and toxins in food.

To complement the funding request, the budget proposal also includes a package of legislative proposals designed to bolster the FDA’s authority to further its mission to protect and promote the public health. The proposals include efforts to (1) modernize dietary supplement regulation, (2) require firms to notify the FDA of anticipated significant interruptions in infant formula or essential medical food supply, (3) enhance drug and biological accelerated approval provisions, and (4) require the destruction of imported products by their owner or consignee that have been refused and pose a significant risk to public health, among others.