#food #Trump The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration are in a rare public dust-up concerning oversight of an obscure group that helps determine international food standards. The FDA and former USDA officials have expressed concern that the move will put business interests ahead of food safety and could hurt the U.S.’s ability to exert influence abroad. The fight relates to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an international consortium of more than 180 countries that, collectively, writes international food safety standards. These standards serve various purposes, including acting as a policy handbook for countries that lack expertise in food safety, and encouraging trade by setting universal rules and helping to settle trade disputes. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-food-fight-has-broken-out-between-the-usda-and-fda/