MAHA.SHOPPING - Closing GRAS Loophole for Additives, Operation Stork Speed for Infant Formula, MAHA Moms, Ultra-processed foods in Schools, Food Labels, School vaccine schedule, SNAP & Pharma Ad Ban

Trump names Susan Monarez for CDC director to work with RFK Jr. after vaccine skepticism sank first pick (NurembergTrials.net)

Breaking: April 10th 2025 Plant-based foods' phytochemical composition (vitamin extraction), isoflavonoids…, can be significantly affected depending on the processing method. Current food classification systems do not sufficiently acknowledge the biochemical composition of the product. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-based-foods-biochemical-composition-significantly.html

RFK Jr., head of the $4.5T National Institute of Health admits in an interview today, to my previous posts in 2022 and 2024, 2025 on (GRAS), Generally Recognized As Safe designation for ALL ingredients, ALL additives in ALL your foods since 1958. Manufacturers self-report and no safety trials are required.

March 26th 2025 Food Companies Are Changing Their Recipes as Kennedy Weighs In https://www.msn.com/en-ca/health/nutrition/food-companies-are-changing-their-recipes-as-kennedy-weighs-in/ar-AA1BFp2w

March 25th 2025 CDC is pulling back $11B in Covid bailouts sent to health departments across the U.S. “Now that the pandemic is over, the grants and cooperative agreements are no longer necessary," federal health authorities wrote to funding recipients this week. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-pulling-back-11b-covid-funding-sent-health-departments-us-rcna198006

March 25th 2025 Five Key CDC Leaders Abruptly Retire Amid Agency Shakeup: What to Know https://www.newsweek.com/five-key-cdc-leaders-abruptly-retire-amid-agency-shakeup-what-know-2050461

March 25th 2025 Bill would pull ultra-processed foods from Florida schools. Lobbyists are pushing back https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article302769544.html

March 25th 2025 MAHA moms: the cohort of women backing RFK Jr.'s health agenda America's head health honcho has a flock of supporters spreading the MAHA message on social media https://theweek.com/health/maha-moms-rfk-jr-health-agenda

March 25th 2025 RFK Jr. reportedly plans to ban pharmaceutical ads on TV https://www.livenowfox.com/news/rfk-jr-pharma-ads-commercials-ban-on-tv-promise

March 25th 2025 Hitler's 4th Reich in Germany pushes the Bird Flu B.S. and wants to murder all the chickens in the U.S. https://www.dw.com/en/rfk-jrs-let-bird-flu-spread-plan-makes-no-sense/a-72041315

March 25th 2025 West Virginia Bans Food Additives In Line With 'Make America Healthy Again' Movement https://au.news.yahoo.com/west-virginia-bans-food-additives-012157135.html

March 25th 2025 Trump administration officials, including HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, want to end federal subsidies for unhealthy foods like soda, chips, and candy bars. That means restricting the range of foods households can purchase using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds. https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/03/simple-economics-may-derail-the-maha-reform-of-food-stamps/

March 25th 2025 Study Links Popular Antidepressants to Increased Cognitive Decline and Dementia https://news.ki.se/antidepressants-linked-to-faster-cognitive-decline-in-dementia

March 25th 2025 Vaccine skeptic hired to head federal study of immunizations and autism https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/03/25/vaccine-skeptic-hhs-rfk-immunization-autism/

March 24th 2025 Closing the GRAS Loophole is a Good Idea https://earthjustice.org/experts/peter-lehner/closing-the-gras-loophole-is-a-good-idea

March 24th 2025 Trump Nominates Susan Monarez to Lead C.D.C. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/health/cdc-director-monarez.html

March 24th 2025 FDA Delays Food Traceability Rule, Industry Rejoices https://foodinstitute.com/focus/fda-delays-food-traceability-rule-industry-rejoices/

March 24th 2025 Trump names new CDC director to work with RFK Jr. after vaccine skepticism sank first pick https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/24/trump-susan-monarez-cdc-nomination/82640747007/

March 23rd 2025 RFK Jr praises Novak Djokovic in social media post: 'First in courage' Djokovic refused to take the COVID-19 death-jab https://www.foxnews.com/sports/rfk-jr-praises-novak-djokovic-social-media-post-first-courage

March 23rd 2025 'Not necessarily a no': McMahon doesn't rule out RFK Jr. involvement on school vaccines https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/23/politics/video/sotu-mcmahon-doesnt-rule-out-rfk-jr-involvement-on-school-vaccines

March 21st 2025 RFK Jr. Plans to Overhaul School Lunches To Eliminate Processed Foods https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/rfk-jr-plans-to-overhaul-school-lunches-to-eliminate-processed-foods/ss-AA1Bfef7

March 20th 2025 ‘Operation Stork Speed’: FDA, HHS target baby formula contamination https://www.newsnationnow.com/health/rfk-jr-baby-formula-operation-stork-speed/

March 20th 2025 US FDA announces online database to track food contaminants https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-fda-announces-online-database-track-food-contaminants-2025-03-20/

March 19th 2025 RFK Jr targets companies making baby formula after shortages rocked Biden administration https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rfk-jr-targets-companies-baby-formula-shortages-biden-administration

March 18th 2025 HHS, FDA Announce Operation Stork Speed to Expand Options for Safe, Reliable, and Nutritious Infant Formula for American Families https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/operation-stork-speed.html

RFK Jr. targets FDA's 'self-certify' food additive program | Morning in America

March 11th 2025 RFK Jr. tells food leaders he wants artificial dyes removed from food products before he leaves office https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rfk-jr-tells-food-leaders-artificial-dyes-removed/story?id=119683107

MAHA News December 2024 - Food Coloring Bans, Sell by Dates & GMO https://maha.shopping/f/maha-news-december-2024---food-coloring-bans-sell-by-dates-gmo

November 18th 2024 NYT fact-check of RFK Jr claims on Fruit Loops artificial colors https://maha.shopping/f/nyt-fact-check-of-rfk-jr-claims-on-fruit-loops-artificial-colors

October 24, 2024 In a study published in JAMA Network Open in 2023, researchers tested for performance-enhancing botanical ingredients in 57 supplements and found that 89% of them didn't accurately list their ingredients and 12% contained at least one ingredient prohibited by the FDA. Your supplements might not contain what's on the label. The US's leading expert shared 3 tips for buying safe products that are right for you. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/supplements-might-not-contain-whats-110125362.html

May 18th 2022 Baby Formula Shortage Hoax + China Melamine Baby Formula Scandal w/ Melamine in Vaccines https://nurembergtrials.net/nuremberg-2-0/f/baby-formula-shortage-hoax-china-melamine-baby-formula-scandal

April 14, 2015 Why The FDA Has Never Looked At Some Of The Additives In Our Food https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/04/14/399591292/why-the-fda-is-clueless-about-some-of-the-additives-in-our-food

Closing the GRAS Loophole is a Good Idea

Here’s how FDA can protect us from dangerous chemicals in our food.

On March 11, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “consider” revisions to its Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) Rule and related guidance. He noted that “[f]or far too long, ingredient manufacturers and sponsors have exploited a loophole that has allowed new ingredients and chemicals, often with unknown safety data, to be introduced into the U.S. food supply without notification to the FDA or the public.”

Given that the Trump administration is moving aggressively to rollback air, water, and climate pollution limits, as well as firing staff and withdrawing support for pollution reduction, and plans to reverse key safeguards that protect people from chemical exposure, we remain deeply skeptical that FDA actually intends to adopt rules that would lead to more regulation of the chemical industry and thus greater food safety, But, if FDA really does intend to revise its GRAS Rule and to take seriously its responsibility to protect the safety of our food, we are sharing our expertise on what it can and should do.

The federal Food Drug & Cosmetic Act requires that anything added to our food be found to be “safe”, which is defined as meaning a “reasonable certainty of no harm.” This standard, in theory, is very strong. Indeed, the law establishes a comprehensive process for the premarket review of all proposed “food additives,” requiring FDA to assess safety and prescribe conditions for safe use.

But the law’s definition of the term “food additive” contains a giant loophole: if chemical manufacturers decide for themselves that a substance they’ve synthesized is “generally recognized, among experts qualified by scientific training and experience to evaluate its safety, as having been adequately shown through scientific procedures … to be safe under the conditions of its intended use,” then it is not a “food additive,” and it can be added to food without any FDA review — even without notifying the FDA.

This is the Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) loophole. And this loophole has swallowed the rule — virtually all new food chemicals have been added to our food through this provision.

We sued the FDA several years ago over the rule it adopted to implement this GRAS loophole. We argued that the loophole is an illegal and overly vague delegation of food safety oversight authority to private parties with a financial stake in the outcome. Relying on the now overruled Chevron doctrine of deference to agencies, the Court upheld the rule but acknowledged the concern about the secrecy allowed by the rule given “the increase in the number of food additives over the last five decades.”

The FDA has the clear authority to significantly strengthen oversight of food additives in five major ways:

1. The FDA can and should require companies to give FDA notice whenever they use the loophole to self-certify that their products are GRAS. Currently, the FDA does not require notice to FDA — but only “encourages” it — and it appears that most companies do not give notice, but rather self-certify in secret, based on secret data, that the substance is “safe.” This secrecy impairs the FDA’s ability to enforce the food safety law and ensure that the certification of safety was scientifically supported and not compromised by conflicts of interest. This secrecy further impedes the ability of the FDA or the companies themselves to examine the impact of a food additive in conjunction with many other (perhaps secret) food additives. Even Secretary Kennedy noted that the FDA can require this notice under existing law; it need not wait for Congress to act.

2. The FDA should establish stricter standards for what qualifies as the “expert opinion” companies rely upon when seeking to use this self-certification GRAS pathway. Now, there are virtually no criteria. FDA should require that the certification is done by true experts, without conflicts of interest, basing their opinion on publicly available data. None of that is required now — the FDA does not limit who can serve as an “expert”, exclude “experts” with conflicts of interest, or preclude GRAS determinations to be based on unpublished data corroborated by unpublished data. Indeed, a 2011 study found that of 451 GRAS determinations voluntarily filed with the FDA, all expert opinions were made by either an employee of an additive manufacturer, an employee of a consulting firm selected by a manufacturer or by an expert panel selected by the manufacturer or a firm that was a consultant to the manufacturer.

3. The FDA can and should impose limits on what substances can be self-certified as GRAS. Critically, it should preclude self-certification of cancer-causing additives or novel or newly synthesized substances.

4. The FDA should provide that manufacturers cannot determine a substance to be GRAS after the FDA raises safety concerns about that substance. And the FDA should not permit companies to withdraw GRAS notices. If the FDA has safety concerns, it should not encourage or permit the company to submit a “cease to evaluate” letter that effectively withdraws notice to the FDA and lets the company proceed in total secrecy. Rather, the FDA should issue a “no basis letter” indicating that there is no basis for a GRAS determination. If there are new studies or new data in the future, the company can resubmit a new GRAS notice at that time.

5. Finally, while the above changes would improve the process going forward, the FDA must also address the dangers to our food from the past many decades of secrecy. The FDA should compile a database of all substances (that it knows about) that have been certified as GRAS since the program started in 1958, so that future certification analyses can address the cumulative impact of the over ten thousand food additives now in use. And it should carefully review all self-certified GRAS determinations to date.

These changes are clearly within the legal authority of the FDA under the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act and thus do not require Congressional action. And they are fully justified by numerous studies documenting the harmful substances that are slipping through this loophole into our food.

If this administration truly wants to protect people from chemical additives in food that are leading to chronic disease, it will adopt the commonsense measures we have laid out. And while these are far from the only measures FDA must take to improve the safety of our food, they are an important step in the right direction.

Peter Lehner

Based in New York, Peter Lehner (@p_lehner @farmfuture) directs Earthjustice’s Sustainable Food & Farming Program, developing litigation, administrative, and legislative strategies to promote a more just and environmentally sound agricultural system and to reduce health, environmental, and climate harms from production of our food.

Carrie Apfel

Based in Washington, D.C., Carrie is the deputy managing attorney of the Sustainable Food & Farming Program.

Sustainable Food & Farming Program

Earthjustice’s Sustainable Food and Farming program aims to make our nation’s food system safer and more climate friendly.