Food
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), a trade group representing over 300 companies in the food, beverage, and consumer-products industry, announced last month its plans to address consumer concerns about food additives that are “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS). Currently, companies can decide if a substance is GRAS without approval by the FDA. Per the GMA’s proposal, an independent group of experts, in a public process including stakeholders, will establish a science-based, ingredient-safety–assessment procedure. A Publicly Available Standard of the process is planned to be released in 2016. The GMA will develop a database of GRAS assessments, to which the FDA and other stakeholders will have access in 2015. Another step the GMA will take is to expand its outreach and education efforts. The proposed rule would apply only to future food additives and would have no effect on the approximately 1,000 substances currently categorized as GRAS.
Source: Food Safety News