Apr 22, 2025 03:55 PM
(This post was last modified: Apr 22, 2025 03:59 PM by C C.)
https://undark.org/2025/04/21/rfk-scienc...additives/
EXCERPTS: In a video posted to YouTube in September, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took aim at U.S. health agencies that he said have allowed for the mass poisoning of American children.
[...] During his Senate confirmation hearings in January, Kennedy singled out a Food and Drug Administration standard by which companies can introduce new additives to foods without notifying regulators or the public. The standard, called “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, was adopted in 1958 and geared initially towards benign substances such as vinegar and baking powder.
However, most of the chemical additives introduced in recent decades passed through the so-called GRAS loophole: The FDA requires manufacturers to affirm GRAS additives are safe, but the companies don’t have to release the data, and they are in effect self-regulating.
[...] Kennedy’s goal to rid the food supply of chemical additives is winning accolades from nutrition experts, but it also raises challenging questions. The FDA would need more money and staff to expand oversight of food chemicals, which flies in the face of President Donald Trump’s promise to cut — not increase — federal spending.
Meanwhile, questions remain about how much of a role food additives actually play in chronic disease and whether tightening the GRAS loophole would really help. Food additives are a “piece of the puzzle,” said Kathleen Melanson, a nutrition scientist and professor at the University of Rhode Island.
But, she added in an email, “other aspects of food and diets should not be ignored.” Still, the focus on food additives strikes a chord with those who say changes to FDA policy are long overdue. “There’s an opportunity to get things done,” said Emily M. Broad Leib, a clinical professor at Harvard Law School. “It’s generated such a response that’s been, I think, echoed across the political spectrum.” (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: In a video posted to YouTube in September, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took aim at U.S. health agencies that he said have allowed for the mass poisoning of American children.
[...] During his Senate confirmation hearings in January, Kennedy singled out a Food and Drug Administration standard by which companies can introduce new additives to foods without notifying regulators or the public. The standard, called “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, was adopted in 1958 and geared initially towards benign substances such as vinegar and baking powder.
However, most of the chemical additives introduced in recent decades passed through the so-called GRAS loophole: The FDA requires manufacturers to affirm GRAS additives are safe, but the companies don’t have to release the data, and they are in effect self-regulating.
[...] Kennedy’s goal to rid the food supply of chemical additives is winning accolades from nutrition experts, but it also raises challenging questions. The FDA would need more money and staff to expand oversight of food chemicals, which flies in the face of President Donald Trump’s promise to cut — not increase — federal spending.
Meanwhile, questions remain about how much of a role food additives actually play in chronic disease and whether tightening the GRAS loophole would really help. Food additives are a “piece of the puzzle,” said Kathleen Melanson, a nutrition scientist and professor at the University of Rhode Island.
But, she added in an email, “other aspects of food and diets should not be ignored.” Still, the focus on food additives strikes a chord with those who say changes to FDA policy are long overdue. “There’s an opportunity to get things done,” said Emily M. Broad Leib, a clinical professor at Harvard Law School. “It’s generated such a response that’s been, I think, echoed across the political spectrum.” (MORE - missing details)
