Tag Archives: MAHA

Beltway Beat

RFK Jr Moves to Eliminate GRAS and Synthetic Dyes

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directed the acting FDA commissioner, to take steps to explore potential rulemaking to revise its Substances Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) Final Rule and related guidance to eliminate the self-affirmed GRAS pathway. According the HHS website, this will enhance the FDA’s oversight of ingredients considered to be GRAS.

“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,” said Secretary Kennedy. “Eliminating this loophole will provide transparency to consumers, help get our nation’s food supply back on track by ensuring that ingredients being introduced into foods are safe, and ultimately Make America Healthy Again.”

Eliminating the self-affirmation process would require companies seeking to introduce new ingredients in foods to publicly notify the FDA of their intended use of such ingredients, along with underlying safety data, before they are introduced in the food supply.

“The FDA is committed to further safeguarding the food supply by ensuring the appropriate review of ingredients and substances that come into contact with food,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner, M.D., M.P.H. “The FDA will continue to follow our authorities and leverage our resources to protect the health of consumers to ensure that food is a vehicle for wellness.”

The statement said, HHS is committed to working with Congress to explore ways legislation can completely close the GRAS loophole.

Synthetic Dyes DOA

On Monday, in his first meeting with top executives from PepsiCo, W.K. Kellogg, General Mills and other large companies, Secretary Kennedy bluntly told them that a top priority would be eliminating artificial dyes from the nation’s food supply according to a NY Times article.

In a letter to it’s members, Melissa Hockstad the Consumer Brands Association’s President wrote “Decision time is imminent” According to the letter, Mr. Kennedy also warned food companies that they should anticipate significant change as a result of his quest for “getting the worst ingredients out” of food. And while Mr. Kennedy said in the meeting that he wanted to work with the industry, he also “made clear his intention to take action unless the industry is willing to be proactive with solutions,” according to the Hockstad letter.

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Beltway Beat

USDA Terminates National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) and National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI).

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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The USDA’s  National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) was established in 1988 by the Secretary of Agriculture, after consulting with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The committee provides impartial scientific advice and recommendations to federal agencies on microbiological and public health issues relative to the safety of the U.S. food supply.

The National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI) was established in 1971 to advise the Secretary of Agriculture on matters affecting federal and state inspection program activities.

Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, issued the following statement today in response to the elimination of the NACMCF and National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection (NACMPI). “The termination of these two important advisory committees is very alarming and should serve as a warning to consumers that food safety will not be a priority at USDA in the foreseeable future. These expert panels provide impartial scientific advice and recommendations to USDA, FDA and the CDC on public health issues related to food safety in the U.S. The failure to recognize and leverage the value of this scientific expertise is dangerous and irresponsible.”

Sandra Eskin, CEO, Stop Foodborne Illness, commented on NACMCF and NACMPI being eliminated. “The two food safety advisory committees, NACMCF and NACMPI, reportedly being eliminated, ensure that federal food safety oversight is science-based and informed by a broad range of stakeholders. Without the input of these committees, we have little confidence that the food safety policies at USDA and FDA will, in fact, Make America Healthy Again.”

Separately, an independent federal board has ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to temporarily reinstate close to 6,000 employees fired since Feb. 13, finding reasonable grounds to believe the agency acted illegally in terminating them.

The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) issued a stay, ordering the USDA to return the fired workers to their jobs for 45 days while an investigation continues. The MSPB acts as an internal court to consider federal employees’ complaints against the government.