The FDA term GRAS stands for “Generally Recognized As Safe,” regarding food and chemical additives and ingredients.

​Over 1000 chemical additives are currently used in processed food that are neither safety reviewed nor tested by the FDA, which includes natural flavors.

​According to a long-standing FD​A ruling from the 1950s, food companies can conclude ​that their new chemical additives are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for their intended use and then use that additive in food without even notifying the FDA​. 

​Companies ​sometimes voluntarily choose to submit the notice​ to the F​DA ​and the FDA will then ssue a no questions asked approval once the chemical is designated as G​RAS by that company and used in food. 

The FDA does not regulate it or reevaluate it​ after they approve it. ​As a result, 98.7% of all food chemicals that entered the marketplace ​were only reviewed and tested by the food and chemical companies that created them and also profiting from them. The FDA receives a fee from that food company, which is one of the many reasons the majority of the FDA’s budget comes from those food companies, which, as anyone can see, is an obvious conflict of interest.

​Also, “natural flavors​” which are the fourth most common ingredient listed on food labels​ are permitted by the FDA to be 80 to 90% synthetic ​compounds.

The most common synthetic additives and natural flavors for beverages and food are propylene glycol, poly-glycerol esters of fatty acids, maltodextrin, benzoic acid, polysorbate 80, BHT, BHA, and triacetin, to name just a few. These are all GRAS by the FDA.

The GRAS loophole is what allowed food companies to use bromilated vegetable oil for 64 years before the FDA finally banned it in 2024 due to concerns surrounding its effect on our thyroid glands, proven and lobbied for, by private citizens and doctors, with help from several Congressmen after considerable time and pressure.

In 2023, Senator Corey Booker and Senator Ed Markie introduced the Safe and Toxic Free Food Act to remove this unregulated GRAS foods loophole. The act would direct the HHS and FDA to review all new food additives before being introduced to the market and review all existing additives currently on the market.

Please ask your US senators to review Act 3387 “Ensuring Safe and Toxic Free Food. This was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pension so it’s most important to communicate to the senators on that committee if possible.