The Trump administration said it’s taking first steps in strengthening rules over ingredients food companies have long added to their products with minimal oversight.Under a proposed rule announced Monday, manufacturers will have to notify the Food and Drug Administration when they deem additives as “generally recognized as safe,” also known as GRAS, as well as provide information on existing additives.But critics say that while this is a good first step, the proposed rule won’t prevent manufacturers from adding new ingredients to foods, nor will it remove the many thousands of additives already in foods.
The GRAS designation, which began in the 1950s, was meant to simplify the use of common ingredients like paprika, garlic and vanilla and avoid a lengthy approval process while also freeing up the FDA’s limited resources.Companies are not required to tell the FDA when deciding what they consider GRAS.Critics, including public health experts and food scientists, have long said the industry has exploited the rule to introduce thousands of unstudied chemicals into the nation’s food supply, potentially endangering public health.Add NBC News to GoogleRobert F.
Kennedy Jr.announces move to define ultraprocessed foods04:11Deeming an ingredient GRAS does not necessarily make it so, and the FDA has banned certain ingredients from food after evidence emerged that they might harm health.
These include Red No.3, a synthetic dye that gives foods and drinks a bright cherry red color but has been linked to cancer in animals, and brominated vegetable oil, often used in citrus-flavored drinks, which has been linked to liver, heart and brain damage.“Over time, that exemption has become the loophole, and the vast majority of substances have been submitted via that loophole without public disclosure or of the information safety,” Dr.
Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food Is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, said during a media event Monday with Health Secr...