Kennedy Promises Action, Though Not Regulation, on Ultraprocessed Foods

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told CBS’s 60 Minutes that the administration would "act on" a citizens petition from former F.D.A. commissioner Dr. David A. Kessler asking the agency to exert greater authority over ultraprocessed foods. He said the questions raised were ones the F.D.A.

should have been asking for a long time, but he stopped short of promising new regulation, saying the agency’s job is to make sure the public understands what it is getting. Dr. Kessler filed the petition in August, modeling it on his 1990s work taking on the tobacco industry and arguing the agency has the authority and scientific evidence to declare some core ingredients no longer "generally recognized as safe." His request calls for revoking GRAS status for a set of "refined carbohydrates used in industrial food processing." The F.D.A.

United States

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