Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday evening directed the Food and Drug Administration to eliminate a loophole in safety rules that allows food corporations to self-affirm that all of their ingredients are safe without providing data to the agency, a key step in his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
Kennedy, who has built his public health persona on the argument that unhealthy food is a leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, said in a press statement that the move is intended to improve consumer safety by increasing transparency in what is in the food people consume, especially ultraprocessed foods.
“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,” he said.
Kennedy’s goal is to eliminate the provision that allows food producers to self-affirm that the ingredients they use are generally recognized as safe, or GRAS.
Current rules strongly encourage companies to go through the agency’s GRAS Notification Program to submit safety data on their ingredients, but companies can opt to self-affirm instead, without providing information on any unintended side effects of their ingredients.
Eliminating the self-affirmation loophole would necessitate that companies looking to include new ingredients in their food publicly notify the FDA and provide underlying safety data before the product could go to market, according to the agency.
On Monday, Kennedy met with several executives of major food companies, including Kraft-Heinz, General Mills, Kellogg’s, and PepsiCo.
Although he did not indicate whether they spoke about the new proposed rule, Kennedy said on X that he and the businessmen had a “great discussion” on “advancing food safety and radical transparency to protect the health of all Americans, especially our children.”
“We will strengthen consumer trust by getting toxins out of our food,” Kennedy said.
The press release describing Kennedy’s directive notes that the secretary expects the acting FDA commissioner “to take steps to explore potential rulemaking” to revise the current standards. There is no timeline for the rulemaking process.
President Donald Trump’s nominee for FDA commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary, testified before the Senate health committee last week, affirming his commitment to reform the food safety processes at the FDA to advance public health.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee will vote on Makary’s nomination on Thursday, where he is likely to progress to the full Senate for consideration.
