This bill, which has passed both the NYS Legislature and Senate, and is waiting on the Governor’s signature, aims to close a dangerous loophole that allows companies to sneak new chemicals into the food supply without oversight.  Within the current laws, the “secret GRAS” (GRAS = Generally Regarded As Safe) loophole lets industry—not the FDA—decide which chemicals are safe for us to eat, and there are now thousands of chemicals added to our foods that have never undergone independent safety evaluations by the FDA. Signing The New York Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act and closing the secret GRAS loophole is a crucial step towards improving our food system. While the FDA conducts some food chemical post-market assessments, the agency’s slow action to ban dangerous chemicals leaves consumers at risk, often for decades. We cannot allow this to keep happening.

The Center for Science and Public Interest has put out a fact sheet that discusses moments in recent history where the secret GRAS loophole was responsible for a public health risk. One took place in 2022, when a meal kit company called Daily Harvest recalled 28,000 units of its “French Lentil + Leek Crumbles,” made with a ‘secret GRAS’ ingredient called tara flour. Customers reported nearly 400 adverse events to the FDA (including 133 hospitalizations, with symptoms ranging from nausea and fever to organ failure). Daily Harvest stated that their supplier confirmed tara flour was GRAS, but two years later, the FDA reviewed available evidence and found no studies supporting the safe use of tara flour in food. They declared that the ingredient was not GRAS. This could have been prevented if the GRAS loophole was closed! We need Governor Hochul to sign this bill to protect the public from harmful ingredients infiltrating our food system.

Find out more information on the history behind New York food and safety laws, check out this Center for Science and Public Interest website where you can sign the petition.