A Union of Concerned Scientists report said Sonny Perdue was ‘sidelining science’ and called for congressional scrutiny of the agency

Donald Trump’s agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue, has been criticized for rolling back school nutrition standards, attempting to upend the food stamps program, rejecting World Health Organization guidelines on antibiotics in agriculture and ending a pesticide ban, in a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) advocacy group.

Perdue spent his first year in office “sidelining science and favoring industry”, the report claims, calling for greater congressional scrutiny of the agency.

“Those kinds of things are the end result of a secretary of agriculture who is more interested in rewarding industry and agriculture than in protecting the public health,” said Karen Perry Stillerman, a senior analyst at UCS and the report’s author.

The USDA controls much of America’s food policy and programs. School food regulations, agriculture subsidies and safety and food vouchers for poor Americans are all overseen by the agency.