FDA to Review Safety Status of Ultra-Processed Food Ingredients

The Trump administration will respond to a citizen petition calling for a regulatory overhaul of ultra-processed foods, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told "60 Minutes" in an interview broadcast Sunday evening. The Food and Drug Administration will consider a petition to revoke the safety status of dozens of processed refined carbohydrates unless food companies can prove they are safe and not contributing to health issues and obesity.

"We will act on David Kessler's petition," Kennedy said of the petition that the former FDA chief is spearheading, which calls on the agency to no longer classify sweeteners including corn syrup as "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS). The former agency Commissioner asked the FDA last August to remove corn syrup and dozens of other sweeteners and starches from the list of ingredients classified as GRAS.

"The questions that he's asking are questions that FDA should've been asking a long, long time ago," Kennedy said. "There is no way for any American to know if a product is safe if it is ultraprocessed."

Kennedy and the former commissioner say the GRAS classification, enacted by Congress in 1958, has allowed the use of ingredients without a full government safety review because it lets food companies verify the safety of those items without oversight. Kennedy said that he intends to close that loophole if he gets White House approval.

"That loophole was hijacked by the industry, and it was used to add thousands upon thousands of new ingredients into our food supply. In Europe there's only 400 legal ingredients. This agency does not know how many ingredients there are in American food," Kennedy said. "The estimates are between 4,000 and 10,000. We have no idea what they are."

Kennedy in October directed the FDA to review all affirmations of GRAS, a process that companies use to show a substance is safe to eat without needing full agency approval.

Kennedy didn't detail in the interview what action he would take in response to the petition, but indicated it may not result in regulations the petition calls for. "I'm not saying that we're going to regulate ultra-processed food," said Kennedy, who last month issued new government guidelines that for the first time in the U.S. formally recommended cutting down on ultra-processed foods. "Our job is to make sure that everybody understands what they're getting, to have an informed public."

The Trump administration last month announced new dietary guidelines that urge Americans to eat more protein and less sugar than previously advised, while avoiding highly processed foods.

CDC data out last year showed adults and kids over age 1 got over half of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods like hamburgers, pizza and sweetened drinks in the U.S. from 2021 to 2023.

The former commissioner, a pediatrician, was FDA commissioner from 1990 to 1997. During his tenure heading the FDA, he tried to regulate tobacco under the agency. The effort ultimately failed, but it helped put a greater spotlight on the tobacco industry. He now wants the FDA to take the same approach with large food companies.

"We changed how this country views tobacco," the former commissioner told the program. "We need to change how this country views these ultraprocessed foods."

The former commissioner noted on the show that he and Kennedy disagreed on several issues. "In the strongest possible terms, when it comes to vaccines, I disagree. But if he's willing to take action on these ultra-processed foods, I will be the first to applaud that," he said.

Kennedy has made cleaning up the U.S. diet a priority, with his "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) agenda. However, critics have said he's mostly achieved pledges from companies to swap out single ingredients, which wouldn't have much of an impact on health.

Consumer Brands Association, a major trade group representing the food industry, said in a statement, "Companies adhere to the rigorous evidence-based safety standards and nutrition policy established by the FDA to deliver safe, affordable and convenient products that consumers depend on every day."

Food companies already "adhere to the FDA's science and risk-based evaluation of ingredients in the food supply," said the Consumer Brands Association in a statement. "The GRAS process plays an important role in enabling companies to innovate to meet consumer demand … We stand ready to work with HHS and FDA as they look to revise GRAS to continue to ensure the analysis of safe ingredients and increase consumer transparency," the group said.