The Food and Drug Administration will consider whether to revoke the safety status of many processed foods, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said over the weekend.
It’s a measure championed by former FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler, a frequent critic of RFK Jr. who nonetheless said he would be happy to partner with the secretary if he is willing to take action to limit Americans’ consumption of the ultra-processed foods that he believes are causing myriad public health crises.
In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, Kessler said ultra-processed foods are potentially a greater public health concern than tobacco. Kessler was an integral part of the FDA’s investigation in the 1990s into the way tobacco companies misled consumers about the dangers of nicotine.
“The scale of this — this affects everybody,” Kessler told CBS’ Bill Whitaker. “Understand, not everybody smoked. But look at the number of people who consume ultra-processed food. It touches all of us.”
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Food safety has been a focal point for Kennedy since the beginning of his term. In the agency’s sweeping set of “Make America Healthy Again” recommendations announced in May, existing dietary guidelines were reported to be “unduly influenced by corporate interests.”
Kessler told CBS on Sunday that he has been lobbying Kennedy to revoke the FDA’s “Generally Recognized As Safe” exemption for corn syrup and a long list of other sweetening agents — unless the companies can prove the products aren’t contributing to obesity. The rule allows companies to bypass the agency’s review process for dozens of refined carbohydrates, and has led to the proliferation of what public health experts have called “ultra-processed foods.”
Kennedy, in a separate interview with “60 Minutes,” said that his department would “act on” Kessler’s petition.
“The questions that he’s asking are questions that FDA should’ve been asking a long, long time ago,” he said. “There is no way for any American to know if a product is safe if it is ultra-processed.”
When the GRAS exemption was initially created in 1958, it was designed to classify ingredients commonly found in foods, including spices or baking powder, but a rule established in 1997 allowed the companies to independently add new substances to the category. A 2024 study in the American Journal of Public Health reported that “there are now hundreds, if not thousands, of substances added to our foods for which the true safety data are unknown to independent scientists, the government, and the public.”
The Consumer Brands Association, one of the largest food industry trade groups, told CBS in a statement that there is no “agreed upon scientific definition of ultra-processed foods.”
“Companies adhere to the rigorous evidence-based safety standards and nutrition policy established by the FDA to deliver safe, affordable and convenient products that consumers depend on every day,” the statement continued.
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