<p>By: Erin McCarthy, Manager, Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs, FMI<br /></p><p><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/regulatory-rollercoaster.tmb-large-350-.jpg?Culture=en&sfvrsn=90ab9043_1" style="margin:10px;float:right;" class="-align-right" alt="Rollercoaster image blue sky" sf-size="208334" />The last year of the Biden administration, and the dawn of the second Trump administration, have turned the regulatory environment into a rollercoaster of increased action on both the federal and state level, throwing many for a loop. To shed some light on this environment of change and uncertainty, I sat down with Veronica Colas and Elizabeth Fawell, Partners in the food and beverage regulatory group at the law firm Hogan Lovells, and two of our expert speakers at the <a href="https://www.fmi.org/legal-conference">2025 Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Conference.</a><br /></p><p><strong>McCarthy: </strong>The new administration has committed to overhauling regulatory policy and the regulatory environment and has issued several <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/unleashing-prosperity-through-deregulation/">executive orders</a> on deregulation. Can you speak about the impact of those executive orders, and your guess as to how they might play out?<em></em><br /></p><p><strong>Colas: </strong>A deregulatory approach could mean the revocation of existing regulations and guidance and could lead to a slowdown in the issuance of new regulations and guidance from the agencies. In lieu of new regulations, FDA and USDA could consider other approaches, such as website Q&As or public health advisories, though we expect certain initiatives will require guidance or regulation in the long run. What’s interesting is there is a potential tension between the deregulatory approach on one hand, and the many regulatory priorities the new administration has announced. We will explore this tension and potential recommendations from the Make America Healthy Again Commission in our session. In the meantime, there is an opportunity here for food companies and their trade associations to identify areas where existing regulations may be outdated or impose a burden that is outsized compared to the benefits and could warrant repeal under the deregulatory orders.<br /></p><p><strong>McCarthy: </strong>What are the most important or emerging issues in the food regulatory space that we should expect to hear about in your session?<br /></p><p><strong>Fawell: </strong>We’ll cover the gamut of the transition to the new administration and leadership changes, state action as well as potential federal action on the Dietary Guidelines, feeding programs, food additives, color additives, heavy metals, and the GRAS framework, so-called ultra-processed foods, traceability, and the prior administration’s priorities including front-of-package nutrition labeling, the healthy final rule, and sodium reduction.<br /></p><p><strong>McCarthy:</strong> How should companies be thinking about food regulatory issues at this time?<br /></p><p><strong>Colas:</strong> This is truly an unprecedented time with a focus on food like we haven’t seen in a long time. We are fortunate to live in a country with an amazing food system – a system that produces safe food and where consumers have tremendous choices. We will share our thoughts on things companies should be doing, and how companies should be thinking about food regulatory issues, in our session.<br /></p><p>Join us at the <a href="https://www.fmi.org/legal-conference">2025 Legal, Regulatory & Compliance Conference</a> on July 13-15 in Santa Fe, N.M. to hear the most current insights on the regulatory environment from Hogan Lovells during their session.<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.fmi.org/legal-conference/registration" class="button">Register Today</a></p>
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