There has been a significant reduction in the FDA's regulatory action against the food industry under the Trump administration relative to the Obama administration, according to an analysis published by the US magazine Science.
The analysis used data on the number of warning letters issued by the FDA, which are usually used to demand that a company takes immediate action to rectify a violation of FDA rules.
It found that the number of warning letters sent annually had fallen by a third since Trump had taken office, indicating less intense monitoring and enforcement activity.
Critics of Trump said the Science analysis indicates that his administration has been pushing the FDA to support a deregulation agenda without grounding these efforts in legislation.
However, Scott Gottlieb, a Republican who headed the FDA until 2019, attributed the reduction in warning letters to the agency's increased efficiency and said that suggestions of political interference were baseless.
