Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s advisers are considering a significant rewrite of the Food and Drug Administration's rules governing foods to meet the needs of Kennedy and President-elect Donald Trump. “Make America Healthy Again” A pledge to get toxic chemicals out of the food supply.
The proposed action, which is still in the early stages and would require getting sign-off from Trump and his transition team, targets a provision in FDA rules requiring food additives to be approved by the agency as “generally recognized as safe.” Goes” is considered. ,” or GRAS.
Advisers to Kennedy, Trump's choice for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, have also taken other approaches to curbing food consumption, including changing government subsidies and incentives for certain types of foods. This also includes working with agricultural producers. Kennedy argues that these are unhealthy.
Kelly Means, a top adviser on Kennedy's transition team, said, “I think the overall stance of the FDA should really be a lot more regulation. I think we should have a golden age of innovation and drug development. No one is going to get in the way of that.” Can't stand.” , Said This month on “The Liz Wheeler Show.”
Means said that “corrupt regulatory interpretations” have broken down the regulation of additives under the GRAS process, adding that it has become a “completely rigged system.”
“But when it comes to food, when it's recognized as 'generally safe,' there is complete self-regulation from this industry, allowing them to put chemicals into our food that are harmful to health.” They are banned in other countries and hundreds of studies say they are harmful, requiring a review,” Means said.
“It's a banana system”
advocacy groups and experts has long condemned the FDA “Escape route” In the regulation of these food additives, which allows companies to quietly decide which chemicals they deem safe enough to add to their products without agency oversight.
“This is a bananas system. This is not the way new food chemicals should be approved and coming into our food supply,” said Melanie Benes, vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group.
While companies with new chemicals can choose to go through a “voluntary” process to earn a spot at the agency list of Substances that are “generally recognized as safe,” making it easier to market foods with additives, officials acknowledge are often ignored by companies.
“It undermines the overall credibility of the system when it is possible to get a chemical on the market without prior review by the FDA,” Jim Jones, the agency's top food official, said at a conference. events Hosted by the Alliance for a Stronger FDA earlier this year.
Bill Freese, science director at the Center for Food Safety, quoted Many times companies have decided to go ahead and “self-certify” that their food additives are safe, even after failing to get the consent of FDA reviewers during the voluntary process.
This strays too far from the original intent of the provision, which was narrowly considered “grandfathered in” to foods with a long history of safe use, such as salt and vinegar, Freese said.
He said, “These GRAS exemptions should be limited. The FDA expanded the loophole until it literally swallowed the statute whole.”
Obstacles in Congress and the courts
Making it mandatory for companies to go through the GRAS notification process before using any new food ingredients could create barriers.
Cracking down on food additives would dramatically increase the FDA's workload. The agency will have to examine new notifications as well as look at chemicals already given the green light.
FDA officials have long called on Congress to increase funding for oversight of food additives, warning that resources are stretched thin even with existing duties.
An idea to broaden the FDA's funding – attaching a fee to applications submitted by food manufacturers, similar to “user fee” programs for medical products – has also failed to gain traction on Capitol Hill. Kennedy has also been critical of the “user fee” approach to drugs and has called for its undoing.
Another hurdle could come through the courts, especially in light of the Supreme Court's earlier decision this year Due to which the power of the agency was reduced.
Advocacy groups lost Previous federal lawsuit Efforts are being made against the FDA to bring back the notifications in 2021. In that case, the judge found that “it is not clear under the statute whether FDA even has the authority to mandate GRAS notifications.”
“I think there are certainly some things within the FDA's power to close loopholes that would make it harder for companies to take advantage of the GRAS process. But there are some legal precedents that say it's Congress's problem to fix this.” So we'll just have to see,” Benes said.
While Kennedy's team acknowledges the issue may need to be ironed out through legislation on Capitol Hill, one adviser said changing the process only through the executive branch is on the table.
Kennedy previously said he was asking Trump to “declare a national emergency, but not for infectious disease, but for chronic disease” as another way to supercharge his officials amid an expected blowback from the food industry. .
Means said, “It's not a monolithic industry, it's not an all-powerful industry. They can be disrupted. So that's what gives me hope. The voters and President Trump's microphone are on our side.”
Consumer Brands Association, an industry trade group representation of Several large food companies, such as cereal maker WK Kellogg and soft drink company Coca-Cola, have been criticized by Kennedy, who said in a statement that keeping consumers “safe is our number one priority.”
“Federal regulatory agencies within HHS operate under a science- and risk-based mandate and it is important that that framework remains in place under the new administration,” Sarah Gallo, the association's senior vice president of federal affairs, said in a statement.
Gallo has said earlier The food industry would be open to the FDA taking a more active role, in hopes of negating the “ill-advised and disruptive position by the state” of legislatures moving to impose restrictions. some additives,
Gallo said, “As the largest domestic manufacturing employer supporting more than 22 million American jobs, we are committed to supporting public health, building consumer confidence, and promoting consumer choice through confirmed hiring and hiring within HHS. Ready to work with qualified experts.”