The National Chicken Council this week joined agriculture groups in sending a letter urging swift Senate confirmation for Dr. Mindy Brashears as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Under Secretary for Food Safety.
“Dr. Brashears is eminently qualified to fulfill the critical role of overseeing the safety of the nation’s meat and poultry products,” the letter said. “Dr. Brashears was unanimously confirmed in 2020 to the same role for which she is again nominated – a position she held until the end of the first Trump Administration.
“The Under Secretary for Food Safety is a critical role within the department that should be filled rapidly to assist the Secretary of Agriculture in ensuring the safety and wholesomeness of the nation’s supply of meat, poultry, and egg products,” the letter continued. “Dr. Brashears’ previous work as Under Secretary of Food Safety and her background and experience in the area of food safety have demonstrated her leadership on these issues.”
Prior to her nomination, Dr. Brashears served as the director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence and as a professor of food microbiology and food safety at Texas Tech University. Dr. Brashears also served as a professor of food safety and public health at Texas Tech University for nearly twenty years before joining USDA as Deputy Under Secretary of Food Safety in 2019. Dr. Brashears served in that role throughout the remainder of the Trump administration.
The letter, addressed to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY), and Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL). The National Pork Producers Council, National Turkey Federation, and the Meat Institute also signed the letter, which can be found here.
