Written by I. Edwards
The nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is taking steps to tighten oversight of chemicals in the U.S. food supply, a key component of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
On March 10, Kennedy directed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to consider new rules that would close a decades-old loophole allowing companies to add chemicals to food without government review.
The rule, dubbed “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS), lets companies self-certify the safety of certain food additives without notifying the FDA.
Critics contend that this has allowed potentially unsafe substances to enter the food supply without proper oversight.
Kennedy’s proposal could require companies to report all new food ingredients to the FDA and submit safety data.
But no timeline has been set, and the process could take years to finalize.
“It is the lowest of low-hanging fruit,” Scott Faber, a senior vice president of the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, told The Washington Post.
