HHS Proposes Additive Oversight

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Monday a proposed FDA rule requiring food manufacturers to notify the agency when they determine an ingredient is “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, and submit the safety basis for that decision. The change would replace a voluntary notification system created around the 1958 GRAS exemption, which has allowed companies to introduce additives without FDA notice. The requirement would apply to new ingredients and seek information on existing additives in human and animal foods. Kennedy also said HHS is working on a federal definition of ultra-processed foods.