HHS Moves to End “GRAS” Food Loophole & Define Ultra-Processed Foods
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Washington DC, In a major policy shift targeting national nutrition and food safety, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced landmark actions designed to overhaul how food ingredients are regulated in the United States.
Under new proposed rules, food manufacturers will no longer be allowed to quietly determine that new additives or chemical ingredients are “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) without notifying the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Ending the “Self-GRAS” Loophole
Since 1958, federal law permitted companies to self-evaluate ingredients under the GRAS exemption. While voluntary notification programs existed, manufacturers were not legally required to inform the FDA before adding self-approved substances to the national food supply.
The new FDA rule establishes key changes:
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Mandatory Notifications: Requires food manufacturers to notify the FDA whenever they conclude a substance is GRAS for human or animal food.
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Public Transparency: Expands the public-facing inventory of ingredient submissions, giving consumers and researchers clearer visibility into what enters the market.
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Streamlined Evaluation Pathway: Provides a time-limited process for substances already on store shelves to report existing uses, allowing federal regulators to prioritize post-market safety checks.
“For decades, food companies were able to determine ingredients were ‘generally recognized as safe’ without even notifying the FDA. That era is over. Americans deserve a food system where companies cannot quietly decide for themselves what is safe to put on our shelves.”
— Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services
First Federal Definition of Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs)
In addition to ingredient oversight, HHS and USDA submitted the federal government’s first standardized definition of Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) for final review.
While high intake of UPFs has been linked by health researchers to chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, federal agencies lacked a single, unified definition.
Key Metrics Driving the Policy Shift:
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Dietary Share: Approximately 60% of the average American diet consists of ultra-processed foods.
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Childhood Health: Childhood obesity now impacts more than one in five American children.
The standardized definition incorporates public, academic, and industry feedback to build a consistent scientific foundation for future nutrition research and policy.
Next Steps for Food Safety Regulation
These administrative actions form part of the broader “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda, aligning policy across the FDA, HHS, and USDA. Federal officials are also encouraging Congress to pursue complementary legislation to permanently solidify federal oversight across the domestic food supply.
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Tags:
#FoodSafety,#FDA,#HHS,#UltraProcessedFoods,#HealthPolicy,#NutritionNews
