US set to destroy 500 tons of US-taxpayer funded emergency food
The high-energy, nutrient-dense biscuits have been sitting for months in a warehouse in Dubai, according to a former USAID official.
Now, because they expire this month, they will have to be destroyed – at an extra $100,000 charge to the American taxpayers.
The former official, who spoke anonymously to discuss the details, said the destruction of the critically needed food would not have happened prior to the Trump administration's destruction of the US Agency for International Development.
'This is the definition of waste,' the former official said.
The Atlantic first reported on the impending destruction of the aid.
Before the administration dismantled USAID, citing alleged waste and fraud, personnel would have kept track of the expiration dates of the food aid. As the dates approached, they would have contacted colleagues to see who needed it, the former official explained, or it could have been donated.
The food could have been sent to places that desperately needed it, like Gaza.
Two rations of biscuits a day is enough to stop people from dying, the former official said but noted that they do not replace real food. They made 'perfect sense' in the catastrophic situation of Gaza 'because there is no clean water, there's no way to cook, no oil, no fires,' they said.
The Gaza response has been demobilized, and the people who managed the logistics and planning were fired, the official told CNN.
'It's just heartbreaking to see with these biscuits, because they're the perfect emergency food aid, it's hard to see them go to waste,' they said.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed that emergency food will be destroyed because they were unable to use it before its expiration.
'The expired lot was acquired under the last administration, and purchased as a contingency for needs beyond projections, resulting in the inability to deplete before expiration,' they said. 'Unfortunately, this risk is part of always being ready to respond to life-saving humanitarian needs with consumable commodities in remote locations around the world.'
'USAID has had to destroy commodities under previous administrations with similar circumstances – this is not unique,' the spokesperson said.
They said in a statement that the biscuits are 'specifically meant for populations that are moving from one place to another such as in the wake of a natural disaster or fleeing from conflict.'
'We currently have high energy biscuits in warehouses around the world, for those most in need,' the spokesperson said. 'We always want to avoid destroying any commodities and do our best to find alternate uses for it.'
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Transcript: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," July 27, 2025
The following is the transcript of an interview with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on July 27, 2025. MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to French Foreign Minister, Jean‑Noël Barrot, who joins us this morning from Paris. Welcome to "Face The Nation." I want to begin on what is happening in Gaza with those horrific images that we are seeing of starvation overnight, Israel has begun air drops. We know Jordan, other states are looking to organize more aid. Are you exploring any further avenues to bring aid into Gaza? FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER JEAN-NOËL BARROT: What's happening in Gaza right now is appalling. Gaza is- is- is now in the brink of a full catastrophe, and we've been working out, over the months, to try and relief the sufferings of the Palestinian people. We actually have 52 tons of humanitarian help stuck in El-Arish in Egypt, a few kilometers away from Gaza. So we're exploring all options to seize the opportunity offered by the Israeli government by opening the skies of Gaza, but we call for immediate, unhindered, and massive access by all means of humanitarian help to those who need it most. MARGARET BRENNAN: Has Israel responded to your calls? : We have, with the European Union, started tough discussions with the Israeli government, who have made first commitments that have not been fulfilled yet. In the next few days, the European Commission will make clear what our expectations are. We expect the Israeli government to stop the operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that has caused bloodbath in humanitarian help distribution lines in Gaza. We expect them to pay the 2 billion euros they owe to the Palestinian Authority and to lift the financial blockage that is now preventing the Palestinian Authority to implement its most basic missions. We also expect the Israeli government to bring to a stop its latest settlement projects, the E1 projects with 3400 housing units that might split the West Bank in two pieces and prevent the emergence of a political, a two state solution. But what we call for is, of course, the immediate cease-fire, the liberation of whole hostages of Hamas, that needs to be disarmed. And the entry, the massive entry, of humanitarian help in Gaza. MARGARET BRENNAN: You are headed to New York, to the United Nations, to help lead a summit to talk about a two state solution. Your president announced France will formally recognize the state of Palestine at the UN in September. More than 100 countries recognize Palestine, but France is the first western UN Security Council member to do so, and the United States opposes what you are saying. Secretary of State Rubio called it "reckless." He says it serves Hamas propaganda, sets back peace, and considers it "a slap in the face to the victims of October 7." In your government's view, why is he wrong? : So the reason why President Macron made this decision is that it was absolutely necessary to restart a political process, the two state solution process that was- that is today threatened, more threatened that it- it has ever been. And the conference that will take place in New York tomorrow and Tuesday is a very significant milestone, because by- by- by recognizing, or announcing the recognition of Palestine, France has been able, alongside Saudi Arabia, that has- that will be co chairing this conference with us, to collect very significant historic commitments by all stakeholders, including the Palestinian Authority president and Arab countries, in favor of the two state solution, and guarantee security guarantees for Israel. The two state solution is very simple, and I think everyone can understand what we mean by that. The only way to bring peace and stability back in this region is to have two state, the state of Israel and the state of Palestine, living side by side in peace and in security. This perspective is now threatened, and it's why the- the dynamic that we have initiated was so important, and this is why the conference that will take place in New York is such an important milestone. All these efforts are very, very complementary to the efforts that the U.S. have done in the region since the first term of President Trump. We share the short-term objective: immediate cease-fire, liberation of all hostages of Hamas that needs to be disarmed. We share the long term objective: peace and stability in the region. And what we're doing, by bringing the Palestinian Authority leader to recognize seventh of October as a terrorist attack, by calling the Hamas- the disarm- for the disarmament of Hamas and the liberation of hostages, by committing to deep reform of the Palestinian Authority, and by committing to elections within one year, by bringing the Arab countries for the first time to condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament, we are creating, or recreating, the conditions for this political solution that, again, is the only path forward, and we are paving the way. We're paving the way for the future Abraham Accords that the U.S. administration might lead. So I see our effort as very complementary to the U.S. administration's effort, rather than substitutes. MARGARET BRENNAN: Minister Barrot, the president of the United States dismissed what President Macron said, the U.S. Ambassador mocked it. Do you believe that your plans can succeed without U.S. support? : Again, our efforts are very complementary . We share the short term objective, cease-fire, liberation of all hostages of Hamas, and the long term objective, peace and stability in the region. In fact, we will welcome any further efforts led by the U.S. to implement the Abraham Accord logics. And what we're doing now with this very significant conference that will take place in New York will pave the way for such accords. But in the meantime, until the U.S. administration provides, through the Abraham Accord logics, a political horizon for this crisis, we need to act in order to facilitate the- or create an off ramp for the catastrophe ongoing in Gaza. Now the terms, we will welcome and support future Abraham Accords, but in the meantime, inaction is not an option. MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you briefly about an incident that has gained a lot of attention this past week involving some young French citizens who were removed from a flight from Spain. The airline claims they were kicked off for being disruptive. The Israeli government came out though and said the French students were removed because they're Jewish. Have you determined whether this was indeed an act of antisemitism? : I have called the CEO of this company, who has- to express our- our serious preoccupation. She has confirmed that an internal investigation is ongoing. My team has been reaching out to the ambassador of Spain in- in France, and we've made the same request. We'll keep following this situation as it unravels MARGARET BRENNAN: So too- too early to say, despite what the Israeli government is indicating. : I cannot comment on that at this point. We've taken action as- as soon as we got, you know, as we got notice of what was happening, we offered support on location through our embassy to this group. We then reached out to the- the airline company, to the Spanish authorities, and we're now following the results of these investigations. MARGARET BRENNAN: France has been very active diplomatically on a number of fronts. It was just five weeks ago when the United States and Israel bombed Iran. Since that time, France has talked to the Iranian government, along with other European powers, about what remains of Iran's nuclear program. How concerned are you that after these bombings, Iran may now covertly attempt to make a weapon, and the world won't know? : This is still a risk that we are facing, and alongside Germany and the UK, we have been very clear, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and we've been, over the past few months, reaching out to the Iranian authority in close coordination with U.S. authorities in order to express what our expectations are. Ten years ago, we reached a deal on the nuclear program that allowed for a significant rollback of Iranian nuclear capacity. Of course, things has changed. Still then, and since then, Iran has violated all commitments it had taken at the time of signing this agreement. We now want a more comprehensive agreement that would encompass both the nuclear dimension of Iranian destabilization activities, but also it's the ballistic component, as well as the regional destabilization activities that Iran has been conducting, unless we- unless a new and robust and durable and verifiable agreement is reached by the end of the summer, France, Germany and the UK will have no other choice but to reapply the global embargoes that were lifted 10 years ago when the nuclear agreement with Iran was signed, embargoes on weapons, on nuclear equipment, and on banking. MARGARET BRENNAN: So France is ready to snap back sanctions on Iran as soon as August. Are you asking Iran to speak directly to the United States in order to avoid that fate? : We've been speaking with Special Envoy Witkoff, Secretary Rubio, on a weekly basis on this topic that is highly important for the U.S., as for Europeans. We- we have supported U.S.-led efforts to enter into discussions with Iran. We have pressed Iran, after the 12 day war, to go back to a discussion with the U.S., and we'll keep pressing them to do so, because indeed, if there is no solid agreement that can be found by the end of August, we will have no other option but to snap back, meaning to reapply those global embargoes, and we are ready to do that. MARGARET BRENNAN: Minister Barrot, thank you very much for your time this morning.
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