Food and Beverage News and Trends - March 20, 2026

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

HHS Secretary Kennedy: Definition of UPFs coming soon with FOP to follow. A federal definition for ultra-processed foods (UPFs) may be released as soon as April 2026, United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. stated on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. “And as soon as we do that,” he said on March 2, “we’re going to do front-of-package [FOP] food labeling… every food in your grocery store will have a label on it.” Such labeling, Secretary Kennedy stated, would consider “all the ingredients” in the product. He noted that labeling could be based on a simple visual warning system, a “red light, yellow light, or green light” model that would indicate a food's level of healthfulness, “telling you whether or not it's going to be good for you.”

Farm bill clears House Agricultural Committee after markup. On March 5, after two days of debate, House Agriculture Committee members voted 34–17 to advance a new farm bill, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026. Four Democrats voted with Republicans to pass the bill out of committee. The farm bill is the largest piece of US federal legislation for food, agriculture, and conservation; it is an omnibus that encompasses a broad array of programs and policies, ranging from nutrition assistance via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to agricultural subsidies, crop insurance, and conservation programs. It acts as a primary legislative tool to shape nutritional programs, rural development, trade promotion, and research. The House version of the bill contains roughly USD1.5 trillion in spending. One notable aspect of the bill is that it would shield chemical manufacturers from legal claims about the health impacts on humans of certain pesticides. Also notable is its approach to nutritional programs: The bill advanced out of committee without amendments that would have rolled back cuts made to SNAP benefits under the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Senate Agricultural Committee will develop its own version of the farm bill in the months ahead. Farm bills are typically renewed every five years. The previous farm bill, officially known as the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, expired on September 30, 2025. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) stated that he intends to bring the bill to the full House floor for a vote by April 5.

FDA launches new adverse event look-up tool. In a March 11 press release, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the launch of a new unified platform for analyzing adverse event reports. This platform, the FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System (AEMS), will consolidate multiple disparate reporting systems currently used across all FDA-regulated product categories, including food, medical products, vaccines, devices, tobacco, cosmetics, and veterinary medicines. AEMS is designed to enhance data quality and consistency through standardized reporting protocols, streamline reporting processes to reduce administrative burden on both internal FDA staff and external stakeholders, and strengthen safety surveillance capabilities. Beyond adverse event reporting, it will serve as a centralized platform for managing consumer complaints, regulatory misconduct reports, and whistleblower submissions across all FDA centers. This comprehensive approach will enable more effective safety monitoring, facilitate trend identification across diverse product categories, and support timely regulatory decision-making to protect public health through improved data integration and analysis capabilities. “The FDA’s previous adverse event reporting systems were outdated and fragmented and made important data difficult to access,” said FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, MD, MPH. “We’re fixing the problem through a major modernization initiative. Starting today, the FDA will have a single, intuitive adverse event platform that will better serve agency scientists, researchers, and the public.”

FDA public meeting on the scope of dietary supplement ingredients set for March 27. On March 27, FDA will hold a hybrid public meeting, “Exploring the Scope of Dietary Supplement Ingredients,” to help inform the agency’s next steps regarding the meaning of the dietary ingredient categories defined in the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994. The event will include presentations on:

• The scope of the phrase “dietary substance for use by man to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake” as used in DSHEA
  
  
• New methodologies to produce existing dietary ingredients
  
  
• Specific ingredient types, including proteins, enzymes, and microbials

The meeting announcement notes that scientific and technological advancements have led to an increase in development of novel ingredients, with new technologies and approaches being applied to the science of dietary supplements. Participants will have the opportunity to provide feedback during the meeting and submit comments for the agency to review. Find out more and register for the meeting here. FDA invites public comment on the meeting’s topics through April 27.

Deadline extended for comments on improving gluten disclosure rules on labels. FDA has extended the deadline for comments on its request for information on labeling and preventing cross-contact of gluten for packaged foods to April 22. As we reported last month, FDA is taking this action as a first step to improve transparency in the disclosure of ingredients that impact certain health conditions, such as gluten for those with celiac disease, as well as other established food allergens. The agency is requesting information on food allergies and adverse reactions associated with “ingredients of interest.” These ingredients include gluten-containing grains (GCGs), such as rye and barley, as well as non-wheat gluten-containing grains that may come into cross-contact with GCGs, such as oats. The agency is also seeking input on labeling issues or concerns with identifying these ingredients of interest on packaged food products in the US.

FDA releases risk assessment on applying raw manure to crops. In a March 12 Constituent Update, FDA announced that it has issued a risk assessment on the application of raw manure and other untreated biological soil amendments of animal origin (BSAAO) to food crops. The assessment, FDA stated, was conducted to evaluate and quantify the risk of human illness associated with eating produce grown in fields amended with BSAAO. FDA’s primary conclusion was simple: “Extending the time between the application of untreated BSAAO and produce harvest significantly reduces the potential level of human pathogens on produce at the time of harvest.” A nine-month waiting period between the application of untreated BSAAO and harvest was initially proposed in 2013, but, after public comments called for more research, the final rule – “Standards for the Growing, Harvesting, Packing, and Holding of Produce for Human Consumption” – omitted a waiting period. Instead, the “minimum application interval” set out in the rule’s section 112.56 was “reserved” pending future regulatory activity. FDA states that, with this new risk assessment, it will “consider the appropriate next steps” toward developing a specific standard waiting period for applying BSAAO to food crops.

USDA launches strategic partnerships to promote healthy eating, new DGAs; approves four additional SNAP waivers. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, HHS Secretary Kennedy, and Dr. Ben Carson, Sr., the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s National Nutrition Advisor, have announced the launch of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) Strategic Partnerships, an effort which encourages the private sector to participate in educating the American people about the importance of the Guidelines and how they serve as the foundation to better eating. The strategic partnerships will include grocery retailers, health professional associations, healthcare corporations, food manufacturers, agricultural producers, and media outlets, each of which would use their relevant points of contact to communicate the connection between the dietary guidelines and improved nutrition for Americans. “The Make America Healthy Again movement has brought together the private sector, including retailers, the medical community, farmers, ranchers, producers, and the media to play a key role in encouraging healthier families and healthier communities,” Secretary Rollins said on March 4.

She and Secretary Kennedy also explicitly linked the strategic partnerships to states’ ongoing roll-out of SNAP waivers that will restrict the use of nutritional benefits. At the same event on March 4, Secretary Rollins formally signed four new SNAP waiver requests, allowing Ohio, Kansas, Wyoming, and Nevada to limit the use of SNAP benefits to purchase certain foods. The latest waivers primarily encompass restrictions on soda and candy, with implementation dates varying by state.

Secretary Rollins also mentioned USDA’s September 2025 proposed rule that, if finalized, would require retailers that accept SNAP benefits to carry a greater array of basic staple foods, such as fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and protein foods. “We know that there is much, much more work to do, as it were, to get healthier foods into these retailers,” she said. Secretary Kennedy underlined this point, stating, “If retailers take taxpayer dollars, they must put real food on their shelves. SNAP exists to nourish vulnerable Americans – not bankroll the products driving our chronic disease crisis. Today, we are putting nutrition back at the center of SNAP and giving millions of families greater access to real food.”

USDA to update school nutrition guidance as part of DGA. USDA plans to send updated nutrition guidance to 95,000 schools and partner with retailers, food manufacturers, and health professionals as part of its Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025–2030 implementation strategy. By law, USDA is required to update the School Nutrition Standards to be in accordance with the latest version of the DGA. Speaking to the agency’s anticipated update of its school nutrition standards, Agriculture Secretary Rollins stated, “It’s going to be a complete transformation of how we serve food in this country to our children,” adding, “It will not happen overnight, but we are taking the first massive steps to make sure that when we step away in three years, that that righteous work will continue.” Part of the update will include promotion of the new inverted food pyramid, which will replace USDA’s MyPlate diagram. In a recent survey of school nutrition directors by the School Nutrition Association, nearly all respondents said they would need significant additional funding to meet the stricter nutrition standards, along with better equipment and more trained staff. USDA is also planning to issue updated retailer guidance for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

SNAP recipients sue USDA over food restriction waivers. On March 11, a group of SNAP recipients filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia – Nieves Aragon et al v. Brooke Rollins – challenging the USDA’s approval of SNAP waiver restriction pilot projects in five states. Since May 2025, the department has approved waivers for 22 states (including those mentioned above), allowing them to bar SNAP participants from using their benefits to buy such products as sodas, sweetened drinks, energy drinks, and candies – each state’s waiver forbids somewhat different products and ingredients. Top federal officials have hailed the restrictions as an achievement of the Make America Healthy Again movement, but media outlets have noted that the waivers have caused confusion among both retailers and recipients. The plaintiffs argue that, in approving the waivers, USDA “authorized states to narrow the statutory definition of ‘food’ haphazardly without statutory authority or evaluation methodology, and without notice to or input from the people or businesses directly affected.” The practical effect, the plaintiffs said, “is to destabilize food access for every SNAP participant in the affected states.” The plaintiffs, who live in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee, and West Virginia, are asking the court to halt the waiver restriction pilot projects in those states and to delay the implementation of any approved waivers, halt waivers that are not yet in effect, and block any active waivers.

Iran conflict brings knock-on effects for agriculture, food costs. The conflict with Iran has significantly impacted the cost of materials essential to food production. The price of diesel fuel – a keystone of agriculture as well as maritime and freight transportation – continues to surge. Key fertilizer components like urea, ammonia, sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphate have also been impacted by disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. About a third of global seaborne fertilizer trade passes through the Strait, according to the United Nations. At this writing, any available fertilizer supplies in the US now cost about 35 percent more than they did in February. The US, which in some years imports half of its urea fertilizer, is about 25 percent short of the usual supplies that farmers purchase for their spring planting, according to The Fertilizer Institute.

More largely, while the US is not as directly dependent as many countries on fertilizer components that travel through the Strait, it may be significantly affected in the coming months as domestic food and commodity prices are closely tied to global supply dynamics. On March 9, the American Farm Bureau Federation wrote to President Trump, urging him to “consider steps to protect fertilizer supply chains during this period of heightened geopolitical uncertainty,” such as using the US Navy to escort fertilizer shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and leveraging federal tools to ensure appropriate insurance for vessels transporting fertilizer cargos.

Relatedly, on March 10, a coalition of 14 state corn farmer organizations wrote to Secretary Rollins and US Attorney General Pam Bondi “to reiterate our urgent request that the Department of Justice provide a formal status report on its investigation into fertilizer pricing and market concentration.” The letter notes the increasing pressures facing farmers this year and urges Secretary Rollins and Attorney General Bondi to publicly confirm that fertilizer markets are within the active scope of the President’s December 6, 2025 EO directing the Department and the Federal Trade Commission to establish Food Supply Chain Security Task Forces and investigate anti-competitive conduct in sectors including fertilizer.

ITC issues preliminary finding on pricing of strawberries from Mexico. In a preliminary finding issued on March 11, the International Trade Commission has determined there is a “reasonable indication” that the pricing of winter strawberries from Mexico has caused material injury to US farmers. The preliminary finding is the result of a complaint brought in December 2025 by the Florida-based Strawberry Growers for Fair Trade that alleged Mexican winter strawberries are being sold in the US at less than fair market value. The Department of Commerce has launched an investigation to determine whether the berries’ pricing violates fair trade practices. Should Commerce conclude that the berries were unfairly priced, ITC will open an investigation that could lead to the imposition of tariffs on the fruit. In 2025, a similar complaint by Florida growers about Mexican tomatoes resulted in significant tariffs. Most fresh produce grown in Mexico enters the US free of tariffs under the United States–Mexico–Canada Trade Agreement.

FDA updates food import alerts. In recent weeks, FDA has revised certain import rules, particularly tightening regulations that address foods associated with Salmonella contamination and those with undeclared colors. The changes reflect the agency’s ongoing scrutiny of imported seafood, produce, confectionery, and specialty products. Updates included alerts covering seafood products for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) non-compliance and Salmonella, crustaceans due to chloramphenicol residues; enoki mushrooms from Korea due to Listeria monocytogenes, and raw agricultural products containing pesticide residues. FDA also modified alerts addressing foods for such concerns as illegal or undeclared colors, Foreign Supplier Verification Program non-compliance, heavy-metal contamination, and unsafe food additives.

FDA posts redacted Listeria summary. A heavily redacted executive incident summary abstract released by FDA this month about a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak in 2024 and 2025 continues to attract media attention. The report states that, during the outbreak, FDA issued an import alert requiring border holds on an unnamed produce item. Of note: The agency chose to redact the names of the supplier, distribution center, and manufacturer of the implicated product in the report; the contaminated product is also not specified. In that outbreak, which lasted from April 2024 to June 2025, 27 people fell ill; 25 of them were hospitalized and one died. This is not the first time the agency has withheld the identities of companies behind such outbreaks. Last year, for instance, FDA also withheld the names of the grower and distributor involved in an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in romaine lettuce that sickened 89 people across the US; 36 of those people were hospitalized and one died. The redacted summary about the Listeria outbreak comes in the wake of a citizen petition from public health advocacy group Stop Foodborne Illness urging the FDA to publicly disclose the names of all companies associated with foodborne outbreaks, even absent a recall. See our coverage of this petition here.

Two temporary guidances from the COVID-19 era are withdrawn. On March 17, FDA announced that it is withdrawing two temporary guidances that were originally published during the COVID-19 public health emergency: the “Temporary Policy Regarding Preventive Controls and FSVP Food Supplier Verification Onsite Audit Requirements Due to COVID-19” and the “Temporary Policy Regarding Accredited Third-Party Certification Program Onsite Observation and Certificate Duration Requirements Due to COVID-19.” Both temporary guidances involved on-site activities for human and animal foods under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and set out enforcement discretion regarding the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP), the Accredited Third-Party Certification Program, and the FSMA Preventive Controls for Human and Animal Food rules. Although the COVID-19 emergency officially ended in May 2023, FDA reissued these temporary guidances for the benefit of international companies that could still be experiencing pandemic-related restrictions, noting that they would be withdrawn once they were “no longer needed.”

Multiple food warning letters from FDA. In a reminder that FDA is still focusing on supply chain oversight and concerns about environmental pathogens, in recent weeks the agency has sent warning letters to an array of businesses citing them for concerning practices. A number of the letters point to failures to comply with the FSVP. The Supercan Bully Sticks company, whose pig ear dog treats were recalled in April 2025 due to concerns about Salmonella contamination, was cited for importing foods without developing or implementing required FSVPs. FDA also noted that the company did not have a required animal food safety plan. The Black Sheep Egg Company was warned after environmental sampling found multiple Salmonella variants throughout its facility, as well as refrigeration record deficiencies under the Shell Egg Rule. The warning letter sent to the China-based Yuyao City Boss Vegetable Factory cited the company’s failure to maintain required processing records and its falsification of records, stating, “You admitted that production records documenting critical factor monitoring were being fabricated while our investigator was conducting a facility walk-through.” The latter firm has since been placed on import alert, meaning that its products will be detained at the US border without physical examination.

Infant Formula Safety Modernization Act is introduced. On March 11, Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced the Infant Formula Safety Modernization Act, which, Representative DeLauro stated, aims to prevent future disease outbreaks by addressing critical gaps in federal oversight of infant formula safety. The bill would, among other things, expand required pathogen testing of infant formula manufacturing facilities, directing FDA to develop a comprehensive list of pathogens and microorganisms that infant formula manufacturers must test for; mandate standardized environmental testing inside infant formula facilities; require manufacturers to notify FDA of any positive pathogen tests; and hold foreign formula makers to the same standards as US producers. See the bill here.

Senate Minority Leader Schumer introduces bill aiming to break up dominant meatpackers. On March 5, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other Senate Democrats introduced the Family Grocery and Farmer Relief Act, legislation aimed at breaking up dominant meatpackers. The bill seeks to drive competition by breaking up the largest US beef, pork, and poultry companies. According to an explanatory Senate Democrat document, such companies would no longer be allowed “to control more than one major type of meat, forcing the biggest players to choose a line of business.” The bill would place hard caps on concentrations in the beef markets, triggering mandatory de-concentration at both the regional and national levels. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would be required to design and enforce divestiture plans to address such cases. Vertical arrangements between large packers and large feedlots would also be addressed by the bill. Further, the bill would set out a timeline for foreign-owned enterprises to divest their US meatpacking and processing assets and would order a comprehensive study of foreign-controlled meat and food processors, which could also result in divestitures or other structural remedies. Finally, the Small Business Administration would be directed to provide financial assistance, loan guarantees, and other support to farmers’ cooperatives and small businesses that may seek to acquire meatpacking operations. Failure to divest would be enforceable under the FTC Act, backed by significant civil penalties tied to violators’ revenues. The Meat Institute, a trade association representing processors of beef, pork, lamb, veal, and poultry, is critical of this bill.

Key legal developments in US antitrust and competition law. In this month’s issue of Inside Competition, DLA Piper’s Antitrust and Competition team explored two civil lawsuits involving allegations of price fixing in the food sector – one involving frozen potatoes and the other snack chips. They also note a bench trial involving allegations of anti-competitive information exchanges among poultry and pork processors. See Inside Competition here.

USDA provides relief to sugar producers. US sugar producers have been impacted by marketplace challenges, weather extremes, and diminishing demand for their product due to such factors as the rise of GLP-1 drugs and policies limiting the use of federal food assistance funds for highly processed items. In response, USDA has rolled out two financial assistance programs intended to aid US sugar producers. One of the programs will provide USD1 billion in financial assistance to specialty crop producers, including sugar growers; the other is a USD150 million program to specifically aid US sugar beet and sugar cane producers. The programs, announced by Secretary Rollins in mid-February, were created to help sugar growers manage the disruptions of market impacts and higher production costs by providing one-time payments beyond the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program. Part of the second program is USD89.1 million in weather-related disaster assistance earmarked for sugar beet producers who suffered losses due to excessive heat in 2024, provided by Congress via the American Relief Act of 2025. Notably, some of the programs’ monies arose from tariff revenue, meaning that the funding could be jeopardized by the recent US Supreme Court decision ruling those tariffs unconstitutional. Of note: The market challenges being faced by US sugar growers are reportedly prompting industry discussions about reducing the US acreage planted to sugar crops.

NWS update.

• FDA has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the use of a wound spray to treat infestations of New World Screwworm (NWS). Under the EUA, F10 Antiseptic Wound Spray with Insecticide may be used in cattle, horses, and other hoofed livestock, as well as captive wild, exotic, and zoo mammals and wild birds. F10 Antiseptic Wound Spray with Insecticide is a widely available over-the-counter product containing benzalkonium chloride, polyhexanide, and cypermethrin. See FDA’s fact sheet about the product here.
  
  
• On March 10, USDA and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced they have entered into a construction contract to build a sterile fly production facility at Moore Air Base in Edinburg, Texas. Construction is expected to begin in late spring. USDA stated that the facility will likely meet its initial production goal of 100 million sterile flies a week by November 2027. At that point, construction will continue, expanding the facility to meet a long-term production goal of 300 million sterile flies a week. At present, USDA disperses about 100 million sterile flies a week in Mexico, all of them bred in the Panama–United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworm facility in Panama. Further, Mexico is renovating its existing sterile fly plant in Metapa, Chiapas state with USD21 million in funding from USDA. On March 10, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo announced that the facility is expected to re-open in May. In 2025, the US suspended imports of cattle, horses, and bison from Mexico into the US after NWS infestations were detected in Mexican cattle. That suspension remains in effect.

Avian influenza update.

The spring migration has brought with it rising numbers of H5N1 outbreaks in commercial operations across the US. While much of this week’s media coverage of avian influenza is focusing on outbreaks in the wild, the University of Minnesota’s CIDRAP reports that wild-bird avian flu detections have slowed in the past two weeks. Nonetheless, the virus continues to affect commercial operations across the US and around the world. Here are some key developments:

• In the 30 days before this writing, according to USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), avian flu has infected 46 commercial flocks across the US, resulting in the destruction of more than 14 million birds – chickens, ducks, and turkeys. The hardest-hit US states in this period have been Wisconsin and Indiana. On March 13, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection halted all poultry shows and exhibitions in 20 southern Wisconsin counties at least through May 10.
  
  
• In South Korea, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) reported that the H5N1 infecting Korean flocks this winter has been “confirmed to be more than 10 times more infectious than in previous years, making the situation very serious with a higher risk of additional outbreaks than ever before.” MAFRA also issued a report on its investigation into biosecurity practice at commercial poultry operations that recently experienced bird flu outbreaks, revealing that at least 70 percent of those farms had at least one serious biosecurity violation.
  
  
• In the United Kingdom, trials have started on an avian flu vaccine for poultry. The trials are being conducted on turkeys. Separate vaccine trials are also currently under way in the Netherlands and the US. France has been vaccinating farmed ducks nationwide against avian influenza since 2023 – it is the first major poultry exporter to do so. Across the European Union, more than 160 H5N1 commercial poultry outbreaks have already taken place this year in 14 member states.
  
  
• In early 2025, as H5N1 devastated many major commercial laying operations, egg prices across the US surged, peaking at USD6.23 a dozen. A Department of Justice investigation into price fixing in the egg industry, launched last year, reportedly continues moving forward. Also moving forward are a number of putative class action lawsuits alleging that major egg producers coordinated pricing data and market signals to raise US egg prices. The Indiana Lawyer enumerates six such suits that have been filed in the US District Court of Southern Indiana alone.