According to the New York Times, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a public unveiling of new dietary guidelines at the Department of Health and Human Services headquarters in Washington last month.
In his quest to overhaul the food system, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to close a loophole that allows food and dietary supplement companies to independently determine whether new ingredients are safe.
But the plan is facing stiff pushback from the industry, with lawyers and executives already warning of lawsuits before an official proposal has been unveiled.
The “generally recognised as safe” designation, or GRAS, allows companies to bypass government notification and review. It has ushered an unknown number of substances, believed to be in the thousands, into the U.S. food supply. The GRAS provision was envisioned in 1958 to apply to well-understood ingredients such as vinegar and baking soda.
Though advocates of more thorough food oversight and their allies on the political left have long pushed for such a change, Mr. Kennedy and his team have been able to garner widespread support for food reform and have the power to implement it. Their actions are beginning to push past the industry’s comfort zone.
Lawyers for several food companies and industry groups said that mandating notices, which can exceed 100 pages in length, for all new ingredients are too much to ask. They contend that the Food and Drug Administration moves too slowly and would hamper the innovation that people expect from their food and drinks.
Read more here at NY Times.
