Kennedy asks FDA to revise rules for food ingredient safety

(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday directed the Food and Drug Administration to revise its food safety guidance to increase its oversight of food ingredients considered to be safe.

Kennedy said the health regulator should explore rules that will eliminate the current pathway that allows companies to self-affirm that food ingredients are safe.

"For far too long, ingredient manufacturers and sponsors have exploited a loophole that has allowed new ingredients and chemicals, often with unknown safety data, to be introduced into the U.S. food supply without notification to the FDA or the public," Kennedy said in a statement.

Currently, the FDA strongly encourages manufacturers to submit notices under a rule known as Substances Generally Recognized as Safe, according to the HHS.

But manufacturers can also self-affirm the use of a substance without notifying the FDA.

Eliminating this pathway would make it mandatory for companies that want to introduce new ingredients in foods to publicly notify the FDA of their intended use and submit underlying safety data, HHS said.



(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)