The practice Kennedy is targeting, known as “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS), can occur when companies self-certify the safety of a food additive.

It’s time to revamp the FDA’s “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, program that allows companies to add untested ingredients to food, the Health and Human Services secretary says. That may be difficult to do.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday evening directed the Food and Drug Administration to eliminate a loophole in safety rules that allows food corporations to self-affirm that all of their ingredients are safe without providing data to the agency,