Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he will respond to a petition that could enable the limiting of corn syrup and more than a dozen other refined carbohydrates by rescinding an automatic safety status they currently have.
“We will act on David Kessler’s petition,” Kennedy said in an interview aired by CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Feb. 15.
“Evidence over the last several decades since the GRAS evaluation of processed refined carbohydrates used in industrial processing demonstrates that ultra-processed foods that contain these ingredients put people at risk for increased caloric intake, weight gain, and metabolic abnormalities,” Kessler wrote in his petition.
“FDA’s past GRAS determinations are based on outdated data that did not properly assess the biological effects of these processed refined carbohydrates on blood insulin, blood lipid parameters, energy partitioning, inflammatory markers, brain reward signaling, or visceral adiposity.”
Hundreds of comments have been filed on the petition, many of them supporting Kessler’s position.
Kennedy, whose department has banned several synthetic colors to try to make food healthier, told “60 Minutes” that Kessler’s petition raises questions “that FDA should’ve been asking a long, long time ago.”
He added later in the interview that he believes that officials would prevail in taking on ultra-processed foods because President Donald Trump supports that.
“I’m not saying that we’re going to regulate ultra-processed food,” he also said. “Our job is to make sure that everybody understands what they’re getting, to have an informed public.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told The Epoch Times in an email that health officials are going to update regulations to reform GRAS “by closing the ‘GRAS loophole,’ implementing a mandatory GRAS notification program, and increasing consumer transparency with respect to substances found in our nation’s food supply.”
The spokesperson added, “Americans voted for radical transparency and accountability—and HHS is delivering by increasing oversight, strengthening review of food chemicals, and ensuring consumers have clear, accurate information about the foods they purchase.”
The Consumer Brands Association, which represents food and drink manufacturers, told “60 Minutes” that GRAS enables companies to innovate to meet consumer demand and that it is ready to work with officials as they look at changing GRAS.
Kessler told “60 Minutes” that he disagrees with Kennedy on certain issues.
“But if he’s willing to take action on these ultra-processed foods, I will be the first to applaud that,” he said.
“We changed how this country views tobacco. We need to change how this country views these ultra-processed foods.”
