Food and Beverage News and Trends - April 20, 2026

This regular publication by DLA Piper lawyers focuses on helping clients navigate the ever-changing business, legal, and regulatory landscape.

FDA promotes launch of BRIDGE Project to modernize food inspections. Kyle Diamantas, Deputy Commissioner of Human Foods for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has announced on social media that the agency is launching the Better Regulatory Inspections for Dynamic Government Efficiency (BRIDGE) Project, an initiative aimed at modernizing how routine domestic food facility inspections are planned, conducted, and coordinated. “Effective oversight is dependent on strong coordination between FDA and state food safety programs, which together play a central role in protecting public health,” Diamantas posted during a March 31 event with North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. The BRIDGE Project is designed to create a more unified, data-driven, and risk-based approach to food safety oversight by improving data sharing, aligning inspection planning, and reducing duplication between federal and state programs. The effort builds on the agency’s broader Integrated Food Safety System framework and principles of “domestic mutual reliance,” under which regulators rely on each other’s inspections and data to expand coverage and efficiency. The three-phase BRIDGE Project is in its “proof of process” phase, with FDA and selected state partners testing new inspection models, data systems, and coordination approaches. The agency plans to begin rolling out the model nationally in 2028 with the goal of establishing a more coordinated and resource-efficient inspection system by 2030.

FDA and PFT to hold two town halls on Food Traceability Rule implementation. FDA and the Partnership for Food Traceability (PFT) will hold two town halls this year addressing implementation efforts in support of the Food Traceability Rule’s lot-level tracking requirement. The federal fiscal year (FY) 2026 funding bill requires FDA to engage quarterly with regulated entities on the rule’s implementation, and to provide recommendations for industry on “additional flexibilities for satisfying the rule’s lot-level tracking requirement.” The town halls will take place on June 15 and November 6, and registration is open for both events on this webpage.

FDA’s Human Foods Program publishes priority research needs for advancing food safety. FDA’s Human Foods Program (HFP) has published a list of priority research, data, and method needs to help the agency “better understand the underlying factors that may cause or contribute to health risks from HFP-regulated products.” The list of needs, FDA states, is useful for scientists interested in pursuing research that advances the safety of the US food supply. The list may also be helpful for those who write grants to agencies that fund food safety research. The priority areas of scientific inquiry include nutrition; human behavior, perceptions, and attitudes; microbiological food safety; food chemical safety, dietary supplements, and innovation; and risk assessment across various population groups. FDA will update the list periodically. Find the full list here.

FDA extends deadline for gluten-free packaging, cross-contamination RFI. FDA has extended the comment deadline for its “Labeling and Preventing Cross-Contact of Gluten for Packaged Foods” Request for Information (RFI) to April 22. As we reported in January, the RFI notice responded to a 2023 citizen petition from the advocacy nonprofit Celiac Journey requesting that the agency act to protect consumers with celiac disease by requiring that all ingredients with gluten be listed by name in the ingredient list and by requiring cross-contact controls with gluten-containing grains (GCGs). The RFI describes GCGs as cultivated crops that have naturally occurring gluten protein, such as wheat, rye, barley, and hybrid plants like triticale, which is a cross of rye and wheat. The FDA intends to use the information to “support a determination on what type(s) of future regulatory actions we should take to better protect consumers with celiac disease.”

Lab-grown foods in the news.

• On March 30, South Dakota lawmakers failed to override Governor Larry Rhoden’s veto of HB 1077, which would have effectively banned the sale of lab-grown meats in South Dakota by classifying such products as adulterated foods. In his veto message, Governor Rhoden stated that HB 1077 would impose “a permanent ban on a category of lawful, federally regulated food,” and that it is against South Dakota’s traditional values “to ban products just because we don’t like them.” Governor Rhoden instead supported a compromise bill, SB 124, which, among other things, imposes a five-year moratorium on lab-grown meat in South Dakota “to permit further study within the existing regulatory framework.” He has since signed SB 124 into law.
  
  
• On March 23, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rejected an effort to preliminarily enjoin Florida’s ban on lab grown meat, concluding that SB 1084, signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2024, is not pre-empted by the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) because it is a product ban rather than a regulation affecting ingredients and facilities. The PPIA, the court stated, only supersedes state laws that directly concern the onsite operations of poultry processors.
  
  
• On April 6, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed HB 322, a measure to prohibit the sale in the state of food products labeled as meat unless they clearly disclose when they are made from a “manufactured-protein food product.” Although HB 322 does not outright ban lab-grown or plant-based foods from being sold in Virginia, it deems any food product described as meat but containing lab-grown, plant-based, fungus-based, or insect-based proteins, without a conspicuous qualifying term on its label, misbranded. Mississippi’s HB 1153, which prohibits the manufacture, sale, or offer for sale of cell-cultured dairy products, will go into effect on July 1. Cell-cultured milk – real dairy milk created by cultivating mammary epithelial cells in vitro – is an emerging product. Unlike plant-based beverages, it has the same proteins, fats, and carbohydrates as farm-grown milk. HB 1153 defines a “cell-cultured dairy product” as a product that is intended to replicate or substitute for milk and that is derived from animal cells cultured outside of a live animal. The bill also sets out “misbranding prohibitions involving the use of identifying meat terms,” placing fresh restrictions on the use of traditional meat terms to describe alternative protein products – including those made from plants – unless they have been clearly labeled with a “qualifying disclosure.” Food processing plants and retail and food establishments that violate the bill’s misbranding parameters or sell any cell-cultured dairy product will be subject to a civil penalty of not more than USD500 per day for all violations, with total penalties not to exceed USD10,000. HB 1153 is the latest law in Mississippi aiming to regulate sales of alternative proteins: HB 1006, which went into effect in July 2025, bans sales in the state of lab-grown meats.

Texas begins SNAP restrictions; Virginia, Colorado delay waiver implementation. On April 1, Texas implemented its new Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) waiver rules, prohibiting the use of SNAP benefits to purchase most candy and sweetened beverages, including products with added sugar or artificial sweeteners. The Texas rule defines sweetened drinks as non-alcoholic beverages made with water that contain five grams or more of added sugar per serving or any amount of artificial sweetener. It makes exceptions for milk and milk substitutes, beverages that are more than 50 percent fruit or vegetable juice by volume, and medical-grade electrolyte drinks used to treat dehydration that are not marketed as sports drinks.

Elsewhere, Virginia has delayed the planned April 1 implementation of its SNAP waiver, which would restrict using benefits to purchase sweetened carbonated beverages, until October 1, in order to finalize retailer guidance, communication plans for SNAP households, and compliance measures as well as methods to track data, complaints, and program impacts. Colorado has also put implementation of its Colorado Healthy Choice waiver on hold pending the outcome of Nieves Aragon et al v. Brooke Rollins in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. As we noted last month, that suit was brought by a group of SNAP recipients, among them a Colorado resident, who are challenging the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) approval of SNAP waiver restriction pilot projects in five states. Meanwhile, responding to concerns that the SNAP waivers only restrict purchasing by the poor, Colorado Governor Jared Polis is reportedly working on an Executive Order that would ban all state spending on sugary drinks and alcohol.

Agriculture Secretary works directly with agriculture input companies to reduce costs for farmers. US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins is reportedly working directly with agriculture input companies to address rising prices amid mounting concerns about ongoing disruptions to fertilizer supplies. Speaking on Fox News on March 28, Rollins stated that the President has tasked her with holding discussions with business leaders to ensure that US farmers will receive “real relief.” She continued, “The administration is grappling with high diesel and fertilizer prices, which shot up since the onset of the Iran war. Price and supply concerns are looming over planting season and dimming financial outlooks.” Recent weeks have seen significant price increases for an array of key agricultural products, ranging from fertilizer components like diammonium phosphate and sulfates to diesel fuel.

CMS reminds hospitals to ensure that patient diets align with DGA. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has sent a memorandum (QSSAM-26-03-Hospital/CAH) to US hospitals reminding administrators that hospitals serving Medicare and Medicaid patients are required to ensure that menus and diets meet individual patient nutritional needs in accordance with recognized dietary practices. The memo also calls on hospitals to review and revise their nutritional policies, therapeutic protocols, food procurement practices, and nutrition policies to align with the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Among the factors that hospitals should be evaluating, the memo stated, are limiting ultra-processed food options for patients, eliminating sugar-sweetened beverages unless clinically appropriate in limited scenarios, and emphasizing vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, seafood, and healthy fats. The memo goes on to address the implications of this evaluation for patient meal planning and affirms that hospitalization is “a Patient Education Opportunity” that can “reinforce discharge counseling.”

FSIS provides temporary fee relief on overtime, holiday inspections. On March 30, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published a notice in the Federal Register stating that it is temporarily reducing overtime and holiday inspection fees for eligible small and very small meat and poultry establishments during FY 2026. FSIS is offering a 30-percent reduction in overtime and holiday inspection fees for small establishments and a 75-percent reduction for very small establishments throughout FY 2026, or until all appropriated funds are expended. In addition, all establishments that submit their forms and qualify for a fee reduction will receive a partial refund for overtime and holiday inspection fees paid since October 5, 2025, while monies last. Establishments must submit the FSIS Form 5200-16, Overtime/Holiday Rate Reduction Form for FSIS to determine eligibility.

FSIS taking comments on revising plant size categories. FSIS has announced an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comments on its plans to revise the way it defines establishment sizes for purposes of its oversight of meat and poultry establishments and egg product plants. Since 1996, FSIS has used Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) size categories, which are based on employee count and annual sales, to analyze the impact of regulations and tailor assistance to small entities. Under those categories, very small establishments are defined as having fewer than ten employees or annual sales under USD2.5 million, small establishments are businesses with ten to 499 employees, and large establishments are businesses with 500 or more employees. More recently, however, FSIS has also been applying volume-based thresholds to categorize establishments in order to analyze the impact of regulations and to establish agency sampling frequencies or set sampling requirements. FSIS states that comments are invited through May 26 “on whether FSIS should update its establishment size definitions and, if so, how.” See the FSIS notice here. 

NWS update.

• On April 10, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced that New World Screwworm (NWS) has been confirmed in Mexico’s Nuevo León state, 90 miles from the US–Mexico border. Miller called NWS “a direct and imminent threat to Texas, and we are treating it that way. This is a high-stakes situation for our ranchers, our livestock industry, and our food supply, and we are moving aggressively to stay ahead of it.” The Mexico City newspaper Reforma reported that this was Nuevo León’s third consecutive discovery of NWS in a dog.
  
  
• On April 8, USDA’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) released the updated New World Screwworm (NWS) Response Playbook, refining its plans for the coordinated actions it will take should NWS spread into the US. The playbook, originally issued last year, is part of Agriculture Secretary Rollins’s five-pronged plan to keep the dangerous parasite out of the US. Developed through engagement with such stakeholders as livestock and wildlife industry groups, state animal health officials, federal and Tribal partners, and veterinary organizations, the updated document sets out practical, science-based, field-ready guidance for responders. New to the playbook are clear explanations of such factors as agency roles, responsibilities, and authorities; key terminologies; animal movement requirements; and wildlife management. An APHIS press release states that the agency will continue revising the playbook “to ensure continued alignment with state-level plans and industry practices.” USDA is providing information about its efforts to prevent and prepare for NWS at Screwworm.gov.
  
  
• A partial reopening of the US–Mexico border to Mexican livestock is indeed being considered, USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden confirmed to Southeast AgNet on April 10. While “factor number one is what is safe for our American cattlemen,” he stated, “we think that as situations in Mexico become better, there may be a way to gradually and with responsible inspections open certain ports of entry of cattle into the United States and we think that that may be an eventuality on down the road. So we’re preparing for it, as we should.” Vaden added that at present USDA is continuing to monitor developments in Mexico and “continuing to distribute sterile flies over an area just south of our border to help halt the pest’s northern growth.” The border will not be reopened to the cattle trade, he emphasized, “until it is safe to do so, until the data tells us it’s safe to do so.”

Avian flu update.

• On April 3, WATTPoultry reported an “unfortunate milestone”: that, since the H5N1 epizootic came to the US in 2022, more than 1,000 US commercial flocks – collectively, more than 203 million birds – have been lost to the virus. Confirmation of the virus in a turkey breeder hen flock in South Dakota and a meat duck flock in Indiana on March 31 pushed the total number of affected US commercial operations to 1,000, APHIS stated. On April 1, a commercial meat turkey farm in South Dakota became number 1,001. In the 30 days before this writing, more than 10 million birds have been culled in US poultry operations.
  
  
• On April 9, APHIS announced a USD2 million grant to Purdue University to study a novel anti-viral fogging system that would target the avian influenza in the air and on surfaces inside poultry facilities. The system is based on the use of hydrogenated catmint oil (HCO), a natural compound that interferes with the virus’s ability to propagate. The researchers will assess the technology’s safety for chickens and evaluate its effectiveness in real-world poultry housing conditions. Separately, scientists at the University of Michigan, supported by a USD2 million grant from APHIS, are researching how long H5N1 remains infectious in the air and how engineering solutions could mitigate its spread.
  
  
• In an April 10 letter to Secretary Rollins, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) urged the administration to “follow through with its promises in ‘USDA’s Five-Pronged Approach to Address Avian Flu,’ including by finalizing an avian influenza vaccine policy that maintains markets for American farmers.” See the letter here.