The US Food and Drug Administration will consider a petition to revoke the safety status of dozens of processed refined carbohydrates unless food companies can prove they are safe and not contributing to health issues and obesity, announced Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
Reuters reports that the FDA would take up a request by former agency Commissioner David Kessler, who asked it last August to remove corn syrup and dozens of other sweeteners and starches from the list of ingredients classified as GRAS, or Generally Recognised as Safe.
Kennedy and Kessler say the GRAS classification, enacted by Congress in 1958, has allowed the use of ingredients without a full government safety review because it lets food companies verify the safety of those items without oversight. Kennedy intends to close that loophole if he gets White House approval.
A statement by trade group Consumer Brands Association said that food companies already “adhere to the FDA’s science and risk-based evaluation of ingredients in the food supply”.
“The GRAS process plays an important role in enabling companies to innovate to meet consumer demand … We stand ready to work with HHS and FDA as they look to revise GRAS to continue to ensure the analysis of safe ingredients and increase consumer transparency,” the group said.
Kessler, a paediatrician, was FDA commissioner from 1990 to 1997, and during his tenure, also tried to regulate tobacco under the agency. The effort ultimately failed, but it helped put a greater spotlight on the tobacco industry.
He now wants the FDA to take the same approach with large food companies.
Last month the Trump administration announced new dietary guidelines that urge Americans to eat more protein and less sugar than previously advised, while avoiding highly processed foods.
Kennedy has stopped short of saying he would call for more government regulations, but said the goal was to make sure “that everybody understands what they’re getting, to have an informed public”.
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