In the midst of the government shutdown, the FDA will also stop food inspections as long as the shutdown is going on. However, FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said that they will make sure they get the most important inspections done beforehand. “It’s not business as usual, and we are not doing all the things we would do under normal circumstances. There are important things we are not doing.” Gottlieb said.

Although the FDA are no longer checking lettuce for E. coli or cereal for salmonella, there will still be recalls taking place.  For inspections, the most important ones will be taking place in high-risk domestic facilities. Although the FDA helps inspect most of the food in the country, certain products like poultry or eggs are taken care of by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Sarah Sorscher, the Deputy Director of Regulatory Affairs for the Center for Science in the Public Interest emphasized the importance of the workforce. “We don’t want the person inspecting our meat for disease and feces to be distracted by not being able to pay their bills. It is also very hard to get qualified people to work in a slaughterhouse, and many inspectors have advanced food safety or veterinary degrees and could get better-paying jobs elsewhere but choose to work for the government because of the sense of mission and stability,” she said. “This shutdown could have long-term impacts on our workforce.”