Suing The Food And Drug Administration To Reform Its Oversight Of Food Additives

On May 22, 2017, several organizations, including the Center for Food Safety (CFS), the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the Environmental Defense Fund, filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to challenge a final rule issued by the agency on August 17, 2016, regarding the use of substances in food that are “generally recognized as safe,” or “GRAS.” This is not the first time the Center for Food Safety has sued the FDA over its GRAS policy—the organization filed suit against the agency in February 2014, the settlement of which led to the issuance of the final rule challenged here. Nor are these lawsuits the only indication of controversy over the way that the FDA permits new substances to be used in foods. In 2010, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report titled “FDA Should Strengthen Its Oversight of Food Ingredients Determined to Be Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS),” calling for increased FDA oversight over substances allowed into the food supply. In 2013, the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article on conflicts of interest in food additive approvals and the Pew Charitable Trusts issued a report calling for increased FDA oversight over the addition of chemicals to the food supply. The Regulatory Background There appears to be a rigorous premarket approval process for new food additives. Section 409 of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) of 1938, added in 1958, provide...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Featured Public Health Center for Food Safety food additives Food and Drug Administration generally recognized as safe Source Type: blogs