Apr 24, 2026
The USDA officially announced on Thursday that Urbandale, Iowa, will become the primary hub for the National Food Safety Center (NFSC).
The new center will consolidate administrative and technical operations for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), bringing roughly 200 jobs to the state. Secretary Brooke Rollins stated the move is designed to “position the agency where it can best support American agriculture.”
Iowa leaders, including Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, lauded the decision, noting that housing the nation’s largest food safety office in the heart of the Midwest aligns federal oversight with the actual landscape of food production.
The reorganization follows a broader trend of moving federal departments closer to the agricultural communities they serve, ensuring that those managing the nation’s food safety system have a direct connection to the producers.