WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) put forward the Toxic Free Food Act on Wednesday.
The legislation would require the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, to close the “General Recognized as Safe,” or GRAS, loophole and make chemical food additives subject to FDA approval and oversight.
DeLauro’s office added that she submitted public comment to the FDA. As she works to create a post-market assessment system of chemicals in foods, DeLauro recommends that the agency close the GRAS loophole enabling companies to self-certify that new ingredients are safe for customers and voluntarily decide if they will notify the FDA of their conclusions.
In a statement, DeLauro said when Americans are shopping at the grocery store, they should have confidence that the food they are purchasing is safe for consumption and does not contain any harmful chemical additives that could result in illness or death.
“The GRAS loophole allows companies to decide themselves whether additives are safe to add or not, skirting FDA oversight and allowing for potentially dangerous chemicals to reach market,” DeLauro said. “That cannot stand. I have urged the FDA to close this loophole, and I am proud to introduce the Toxic Free Food Act to ensure that chemical food additives are subject to FDA approval.”
When it was established, the GRAS loophole was meant to cover ingredients that are already known to be safe, including vegetable oil, flour, baking soda and spices. In 1997, however, the FDA loosened the existing protocol and implemented the “voluntary notification” system.
Under this system, companies can declare substances as GRAS, allowing hundreds of new chemicals to be introduced in food with little to no FDA oversight, according to DeLauro.
If passed, the Toxic Free Food Act will mandate the FDA to incorporate certain requirements into its regulations regarding GRAS food substances, including specific restrictions on substances that cause cancer or human reproductive or developmental toxicity.
Environmental Working Group Policy Director Jessica Hernandez said that no one should have to worry if the food they eat and feed their families is safe. She applauded DeLauro for her leadership and vision.
“For too long, the FDA has allowed the food and chemical industry to decide whether certain chemicals, like toxic ‘forever chemicals’ known as PFAS, are safe to eat,” Hernandez said. “The Toxic Free Food Act will protect consumers by putting the FDA back in charge of food safety, not the food and chemical companies.”
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Brian Ronholm, director of Food Policy for Consumer reports, added that current regulations that enable food manufacturers to self-regulate and determine the safety of food chemicals without any FDA review is “completely unacceptable.”
“The Toxic Free Food Act would close this dangerous loophole and stop this secret process that hides safety data and allow the FDA to determine the safety of substances added to food,” Ronholm said.
In written comments she submitted to the FDA for their public meeting on developing post-market assessments of chemicals in foods, DeLauro urged the agency to eliminate the GRAS loophole.
“For too long, this loophole and FDA inaction has failed to keep us safe from chemicals added to our food,” DeLauro wrote. “To rebuild consumer confidence, the FDA must take bold action to ban or restrict food chemicals of concern, and to reassert its regulatory role and close the loopholes that allow the chemical companies to voluntarily decide which chemicals are safe for consumers.”
DeLauro’s full comment can be found here.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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