FDA Proposes New Checks for Food Additives and Ingredients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a significant shift in how new food additives and ingredients are regulated. The proposed rule change would require food manufacturers to inform the FDA before incorporating new substances into their products, moving away from a long-standing system that allowed companies to self-declare ingredients as "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) without mandatory FDA notification or safety evidence submission.

Kyle Diamant, acting FDA commissioner, stated that this transition to a mandatory notification system would "close a decades-long information gap, providing the FDA with comprehensive insight necessary to enhance post-market safety." Under the proposed regulation, manufacturers would need to provide scientific evidence supporting their safety conclusions for any new ingredient. The FDA would then have 180 days to review the submission, with the possibility of requesting more information or asking a company to delay an ingredient's introduction if potential risks are identified.

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Closing a decades-long information gap, providing the FDA with comprehensive insight necessary to enhance post-market safety.

However, the proposal does not mandate prior FDA approval for every new ingredient. Consumer advocacy groups have responded cautiously, acknowledging the proposal as progress but deeming it insufficient. Organizations like the Environmental Working Group are pushing for mandatory, independent safety assessments and stricter scientific criteria before new chemicals and ingredients are allowed in food products.

"This must also include rigorous, science-based safety standards and a thorough, independent assessment by the FDA before chemicals are permitted for use in our food," said Melanie Benesh of the Environmental Working Group. The FDA also announced it has completed its work on the first federal definition of "ultra-processed food," though details of this definition have not yet been released and have been forwarded to the White House for review.

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This must also include rigorous, science-based safety standards and a thorough, independent assessment by the FDA before chemicals are permitted for use in our food.