Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he is preparing a fresh look at the safety of ultra-processed foods, arguing that Americans are effectively flying blind under a decades-old system that lets companies police many ingredients themselves.
GRAS Loophole Puts Ingredients Beyond FDA Scrutiny
Appearing on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Kennedy told correspondent Bill Whitaker that a 67-year-old exemption for substances “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, allows manufacturers to decide whether many additives are safe without Food and Drug Administration review if experts broadly deem them harmless. “There is no way for any American to know if a product is safe if it is ultra processed,” he said.
Kennedy said today’s FDA doesn’t even know how many ingredients are in the food supply, citing estimates ranging from 4,000 to 10,000. He blamed a 1997 shift toward a voluntary GRAS notification system for turning a narrow exemption into a loophole that industry “hijacked” to add “thousands upon thousands” of ingredients, and contrasted that with what he said are only a few hundred legal additives in Europe.
No Clear Federal Definition Of Ultra-Processed Food
There is still no single federal definition of “ultra-processed food.” The FDA and Department of Agriculture are working on a shared standard, but most researchers rely on the NOVA system from the University of São Paulo, which classifies ultra-processed items as industrial formulations made largely from refined ingredients and additives that enhance flavor, texture or convenience.
Kennedy, Kessler Link Diet To Chronic Disease
Kennedy said he believes he can tighten oversight with President Donald Trump’s backing, but stressed he is not promising bans. “I’m not saying that we’re going to regulate ultra-processed food,” he told “60 Minutes.” “Our job is to make sure that everybody understands what they’re getting, to have an informed public.”
Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler, who also appeared on the broadcast, backed Kennedy’s concerns, saying Americans have spent four decades exposed to “energy-dense, highly palatable, rapidly absorbable, ultra-processed foods” that have “altered our metabolism and have resulted in the greatest increase in chronic disease in our history.”
Since joining Trump’s Cabinet, Kennedy has made whole and minimally processed foods a centerpiece of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, rolling out new dietary guidelines that invert the traditional food pyramid and downplay refined grains and packaged foods.
Photo Courtesy: Maxim Elramsisy on Shutterstock.com
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