OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
9:32 AM – Tuesday, August 11, 2026
U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has proposed a rule that would close a loophole that allows companies to determine that chemical ingredients are safe without notifying the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
On Monday, Kennedy hosted a celebration for the HHS Department's changes in food policy, including its efforts to e overhaul the process of companies independently determining which ingredients fall under the "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS) label, bypassing the traditional government review.
"We're proposing a rule that would end the practice of companies making GRAS determinations without notifying the FDA," the health secretary announced. "The proposal will give the agency greater visibility into the substances that are entering our food supply."
.@SecKennedy with two major announcements on transparency in our food supply:
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 10, 2026
"We're proposing a rule that would end the practice of companies making GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) determinations without notifying the FDA. The proposal will give the agency greater… pic.twitter.com/ASXYUA8Iye
"Under the current system, the FDA does not even have a complete picture of what is entering the food supply, and neither does the American people," Kennedy later added.
He explained that GRAS has evolved since Congress created the system in 1958 to become a "massive loophole" that was "hijacked" by the food supply industry in America, allowing hundreds — and possibly thousands — of new substances to be added into the U.S. food supply.
"Americans deserve confidence that the ingredients in their food are subject to transparent, science-based oversight, and today's actions strengthen both sides of that equation," Acting FDA Commissioner Kyle Diamantas said in a statement. "By proposing mandatory GRAS notifications, we are closing critical information gaps and giving the FDA greater visibility into substances entering the food supply."
For ingredients already under the GRAS category, the proposed rule would create a pathway for manufacturers to provide the FDA with information about the products and their use during a certain window of time. Once the administration receives notification of a new ingredient, it has 45 days to review it to ensure it meets the law's requirements to be used in American foods. It has 180 days to carry out a more substantive review to determine whether it meets the GRAS criteria.
Kennedy has long contended that many of the nation's chronic health issues can be attributed to or worsened by poor diet.
"America spends nearly $5 trillion a year on healthcare — far more than any nation in the world — and we have the worth health outcomes," he lamented. "We remain the world's sickest country."
The proposal is a significant move within the Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) campaign to reduce potentially harmful and unnatural ingredients from the American diet and address health concerns with a more holistic and proactive approach, rather than maintaining symptoms solely through healthcare and pharmaceutical systems.
The administration has specifically targeted synthetic food colorings, with several large companies and brands, including M&M's and Kellogg's cereals, agreeing with Kennedy's request to replace dyes with natural, fruit and plant-based colors.
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