The company behind the deadly 2022 infant formula outbreak and recall situation was represented by the man expected to be appointed to lead the FDA division that oversees food safety.
Kyle Diamantas, who joined the FDA as interim leader of the agency’s food division, was most recently a corporate attorney with the Miami law firm Jones Day where he represented Abbott Nutrition, the manufacturer of infant formula behind the outbreak of cronobacter infections.
The news about Diamantas representing Abbott Nutrition was first reported by The New York Times. Court records show that the Jones Day law firm lost a case against Abbott Nutrition with damages of $495,000 awarded.
Prior to his interim appointment with the FDA, Diamantas had worked for the law firm since July 2021. He earned a bachelor’s degree in prelaw political science at the University of Central Florida in 2010 and a law degree from the University of Florida in 2013.
The Food and Drug Administration has not released any statements about the Diamantas appointment. The division Diamantas will lead has authority over about 80 percent of America’s food supply, including food safety and security.
Former Deputy of Human Foods Jim Jones resigned from the post in late February citing staff firings by the Trump Administration. Almost 90 people in the foods program were let go. Jones said he had been looking forward to working with the new Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. to make the American food supply even safer than it is. However, in his resignation letter Jones said that the “indiscriminate” firings made it clear that such work would not be possible, calling such efforts “fruitless.”
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