Speaking during a fireside chat hosted by the Natural Products Association (NPA) on April 8, Diamantas, Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, restated the unprecedented prominence of a food and nutrition policy dedicated to tackling chronic disease, increasing transparency and updating regulatory processes but noted that successful movements take time and require out of the box thinking inside the agency.
“How do you get over some of that groupthink that might exist on certain issues or certain topics?” he asked. “I think we’re taking a fresh look to better understand how we can better serve the constituents here, how we can better protect consumers, how we can ensure food safety. That’s been a challenge, and I would just say what’s made it easier is that health, wellness, nutrition, food policy is having a bit of a moment.”
That moment includes continuing to acknowledge that the FDA is operating under significant resource constraints, with a budget half the size of the Dallas school district while overseeing 80% of the U.S. food supply, including dietary supplements. The U.S. Department of Agriculture regulated the remaining 20%, which covers meat, poultry and certain egg products.
Prioritizing deliverables, adapting adequately
To achieve its massive remit, the FDA is focusing modernization efforts on re‑examining long‑standing regulatory practices and prioritizing actions that deliver meaningful public health benefits.
As previously expressed by Cara Welch, director of the Office of Dietary Supplement Programs, this potentially involves establishing an effective post-market review process, refining Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) procedures and issuing clear guidance on new dietary ingredient notifications (NDINs) to both assist manufacturers and allow FDA to assess ingredient safety. The agency is also looking to align with broader federal priorities to reduce reliance on animal testing through new approach methodologies.
“Dietary supplement modernization overall is top of mind,” Diamantas said, echoing his previous remarks delivered at a March 27 FDA public meeting on the scope of dietary supplement ingredients. “The supplement industry has just grown tremendously, not just in size, but in scope and scale over the last 30 years, and our regulatory framework just really has not adapted adequately to address that.”
FDA is actively seeking stakeholder input on deregulatory opportunities—particularly around labeling—where requirements may impose costs without delivering meaningful public health value. Aspects considered include disclaimer placement, probiotic declarations and other labeling provisions, while maintaining consumer protection as core mission.
The agency is also seeking public comments regarding the definition and scope of “dietary substances” used in dietary supplements through April 27, and the proposed rule to overhaul the GRAS process will be published for input after it completes the Office of Management and Budget review process.
Stepping up its game, quelling and leveraging the states
Addressing the growing wave of state‑level action on food and ingredient regulation, Diamantas said decisions around national uniformity and preemption largely rest with Congress but noted that states have often acted to fill perceived gaps in federal oversight, particularly on food chemicals, and suggested that stronger FDA engagement could reduce pressure for state‑driven initiatives.
“I think that what you’ll see is that if states believe FDA is properly empowered and is in fact executing where consumers and states probably think we should be, that you won’t see such a drive or desire by the states,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can at FDA to step up our game and address some of those historic shortcomings that I think have really driven the states to take action.”
The agency does see an opportunity to work with state partners for routine domestic inspections through its Better Regulatory Inspections for Dynamic Government Efficiency (BRIDGE) project to allow federal resources to be redirected toward foreign inspections and higher‑risk facilities. The agency is also expanding its use of import certification, foreign supplier verification tools, international collaboration, artificial intelligence‑based screening and credible third‑party audit data to support risk‑based enforcement.
Diamantas addressed industry concerns about bad actors in the dietary supplement marketplace who give the rest of industry a bad name, stressing that most companies operate responsibly.
“We certainly want to support the industry, and [Secretary Kennedy] is a big proponent of the dietary supplement industry,” he said. “We want to make sure that the industry succeeds, and if there’s ways that we can help eliminate some of those bad actors through appropriate mechanisms, we want to do that.”
