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Food & Nutrition
FDA Announces New Approach to "No Artificial Colors" Claims
FDA announced that companies will be granted flexibility to claim products contain ‘no artificial colors’ when the products do not contain petroleum-based food colors. Previously, companies were generally only able to make such claims when their products had no added color, whether derived from natural sources or otherwise. The agency sent a letter to industry providing notice of FDA’s intent to exercise enforcement discretion related to these voluntary labeling claims. Accompanying the announcement, FDA also approved beetroot red the expanded use of spirulina extract, bringing the total number of new food color options approved under the administration to six. The agency is also issuing a letter that highlights resources that may assist manufacturers of authorized color additives in maintaining high standards of safety and purity.
HHS Secretary Kennedy Holds ‘Take Back Your Health’ Tour Press Event in Tennessee
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. held a press conference in Nashville, Tennessee, alongside Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and other state leaders, as part of the HHS national “Take Back Your Health” Tour. During the event, Secretary Kennedy highlighted the Department’s recent accomplishments and efforts under the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative, including the administration’s work to support rural healthcare, lower drug prices, commit to gold-standard science, and improve health outcomes driven by the release of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Secretary Kennedy also shared his support for Tennessee’s latest MAHA efforts, such as prohibiting red dye 40 in school meals, restricting cell phone use in schools, and submitting a SNAP food restriction waiver to USDA. This event followed the formal launch of the "Take Back Your Health" Tour in Pennsylvania last month.
House Introduces GRAS Oversight and Transparency Act
Representative Michael Lawler (R-NY) introduced the GRAS Oversight and Transparency Act, which would establish an interagency generally recognized as safe (GRAS) Review Board, led by HHS and FDA, to conduct scientific reviews of such GRAS determinations. Under the legislation, in carrying out the review, the Board would be required to identify the scope of covered GRAS designations by soliciting the participation of food manufacturers, categorize each covered designation into tiers indicating level of priority, carry out a review of the covered designations in each review category to determine the validity of each such designation, and report the results of each review. The bill would require, after the Board completes a review of a GRAS designation, that the Board notify Congress of a determination that the substance has not been shown to be safe and a recommendation that HHS revoke such designation.
Health Professionals Send Letter to HHS Questioning Scientific Basis of 2025–2030 DGA
Over 200 researchers, doctors, and dietitians sent a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins expressing concern over the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). The letter raised alleged scientific and procedural concerns with the updated Dietary Guidelines, which the authors argue risk harming public health. The letter also criticized how the Guidelines reject the majority of evidence-based recommendations from the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) and argued that some of the recommendations have no scientific justification (e.g., limiting added sugars to 10g per meal), while others conflict with one another. The authors called on HHS and USDA to issue "science-based dietary guidance that truly promotes health and prevents chronic disease," and urged the agencies to provide further guidance for implementation that is "grounded in scientific consensus."
Research Examines Parallels Between Ultra-Processed Food and Tobacco Industry Practices
New research published in the Milbank Quarterly synthesized evidence on the structural and sensory features that increase the reinforcing potential of cigarettes and ultra-processed foods (UPFs). The analysis found that UPFs share engineering strategies adopted from the tobacco industry, such as dose optimization and hedonic manipulation, and are engineered to heighten reward and accelerate delivery of reinforcing ingredients. Researchers suggested that lessons from tobacco regulation, including litigation, marketing restrictions and structural interventions, may offer a guide to reducing harm related to UPFs, calling for public health efforts to shift from individual responsibility to food industry accountability.
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