Overview
- The FDA issued a proposed rule on Monday that would require food makers to notify the agency when they determine an ingredient is "generally recognized as safe" and would publish a public inventory of those submissions.
- Under the proposal companies could keep products on shelves while the agency conducts a 45-day check for completeness and a substantive review within 180 days, and the FDA has opened a 120-day public comment period.
- HHS and USDA have submitted a first-ever federal definition of ultraprocessed foods to White House review, a step officials say could inform future labeling, purchasing standards, or restrictions.
- Administration officials said Congress must grant new authority before the FDA can require premarket approvals, and lawmakers and industry groups are already circulating bills and draft fixes that could change the final outcome.
- Advocates note the rule responds to a decades-old GRAS loophole that began operating in 1997, with roughly 10,000 additives estimated in the U.S. food supply and studies reporting many substances entered without FDA notice, while experts warn limited agency staff and resources may constrain meaningful review.