Tag Archives: RFK JR

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

Sweeping FDA Cuts Hit Food Safety Staffer’s Inboxes

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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The Guardian reported that the Trump administration’s effort to slash the size of the federal workforce reached the Food and Drug Administration this weekend, as recently hired employees who review the safety of food ingredients, medical devices and other products were fired. Probationary employees across the FDA received notices on Saturday evening that their jobs were being eliminated.

On February 15, numerous probationary staff at FDA began receiving emails notifying them they had been fired. CBS News obtained a letter that outlined the reasons that staff at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) were given for their firing.

“Unfortunately, the Agency finds that you are not fit for continued employment because your ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the Agency’s current needs, and your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment at the Agency,” said the letters.

This action lead to Jim Jones, FDA’s deputy commissioner for human foods, resigning from his post at the agency, in protest over sweeping staff cuts.  See Related Story.

The NY Times reported Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. the Head of HHS made his first address on Tuesday to employees of the Department of Health and Human Services. He said that a commission established by Trump to look into the rise of chronic disease in the United States would scrutinize the factors he has cited in the past: the childhood vaccine schedule, electromagnetic radiation, pesticides, ultra-processed foods, artificial food allergens, psychiatric drugs and microplastics. “Nothing is going to be off limits,” Kennedy said.

The recent cuts at FDA include staffers responsible for reviewing the safety of new food additives and ingredients, according to an FDA staffer familiar with the firings.

 

 

Beltway Beat

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Confirmed As Health and Human Services Secretary

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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The Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary, putting a longtime critic of processed foods, big agriculture, vaccines and the medical establishment in charge of the nation’s vast and powerful health system.

Every Democrat voted against Kennedy, while Sen. Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor who had criticized the nominee’s questioning of vaccines, was the lone Republican no vote.

Mr. Kennedy is expected to be sworn in on Thursday afternoon to lead the federal Department of Health and Human Services, a sprawling agency with 13 operating divisions, including some — the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — that he has called corrupt.

The Consumer Brands Association, which represents makers of ultraprocessed foods, issued a pointed statement, reminding Mr. Kennedy that they are the nation’s largest manufacturing employer, and that they would like to see aspects of the status quo remain in place.

“The federal regulatory agencies within H.H.S. operate under a science and risk-based mandate, and it is critical that framework remains under the new administration,” said Sarah Gallo, the group’s senior vice president for federal affairs.