What’s going on: The days of food companies adding whatever they want to their products are coming to an end. Kind of. Yesterday, Health Services Secretary RFK Jr. announced plans to close a decades-old loophole that allows companies to add ingredients to products without any tests or alerting the FDA. The “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) system was meant to give companies the flexibility to add things like extra spices or baking soda without fanfare. But then food brands started mixing in chemical additives like thickeners and crunch-enhancers (yum?) under the GRAS guidelines –– without any proof that they're safe for consumption. Under this new rule, companies would have to give the government a heads-up when they add something new to the mix, triggering an FDA review and inspection. But those ingredients will still be on shelves in the meantime.
Wait, they’ve just been adding whatever they want to food?: Basically, yes. And while the "little bit of this and a little bit of that" attitude might work on the Food Network, it’s not for the masses. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), 111 chemicals labeled GRAS have been added to popular brands. This shift delivers on a MAHA campaign promise to enhance food safety, but some key details are missing from the proposal. Like... what’s the process to review products already on the market? What happens when an ingredient is deemed “unsafe”? After sweeping FDA cuts, does the agency even have the staff to enforce such a rule? Is this ultimately a sprinkle of oversight with a dash of the status quo?
