RFK Jr. moves to close food additive loophole and define ultra-processed foods

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday announced two food policy actions to advance President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda, including a proposed rule that requires manufacturers to notify the FDA when they determine that chemicals added to human and animal food are “safe.”

The department, alongside the Agriculture Department also submitted for final review the federal government’s first proposed definition of ultra-processed foods.

“Nearly 60% of the American diet is made up of ultra-processed foods, and childhood obesity now affects more than one in five American children,” Kennedy said. “We cannot reverse America’s chronic disease epidemic without transforming our food system.”

The Department of Health and Human Services noted that while research links high consumption of ultra-processed foods to preventable chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease, the lack of a federal definition of UPFs has limited consistent research across the federal government.

“President Trump has been committed to Making America Healthy Again since the start of his administration and today’s announcement is another step to achieving that goal,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also said as part of the announcement. “Our nation’s farmers and ranchers are at the frontline in the MAHA mission, and we will continue to put real, healthy food at the top of the agenda every day in the Trump Administration.”

Under the reforms, the FDA issued a proposed rule that would require manufacturers to notify the agency each time it concluded that a substance, such as a preservative or sweetener, added to human or animal food is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). 

Since Congress established the GRAS exemption in 1958, manufacturers have been able to reach their own conclusions on whether substances are generally recognized as safe for how they are used in products. 

HHS says the newly proposed rule would modernize that existing framework, and that GRAS notifications that are submitted would also be public, improving transparency while giving the FDA more information about the substances entering the food supply.

For substances already in the market based on “self-GRAS conclusions,” HHS said the proposal would establish a time-limited submission pathway that allows manufacturers to provide the FDA with information on the existing uses.

While HHS officials say the mandate will increase transparency, some food safety advocates argue that it falls short by still allowing manufacturers to conduct their own safety testing, and question what data would be required to be submitted about the ingredients existing in the food supply. 

Alyssa Moran, deputy director of the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, told NBC News that the rule still "does not prevent companies from self-affirming the safety of their ingredients, as "it does not require mandatory notification." Industry experts have also said that it shows limits to the reforms FDA can make legally.

HHS says that the actions further implement the Trump Administration’s MAHA agenda to modernize oversight of the nation's food supply. The agency also noted that the proposed definition of ultra-processed foods incorporates feedback from “thousands” of industry stakeholders, consumer organizations, researchers, and members of the public, though the timeline for the text of the definition has not yet been released.

Christina Park is a reporter for Just the News. Follow her on X for more coverage.