Tony Pavel Quoted in Food Navigator Article Discussing IFIC’s Recent Webinar on GRAS

Keller and Heckman Partner Tony Pavel was quoted in the Food Navigator article, “Over 100 proposed state laws target GRAS.” The article discusses the International Food Information Council’s (IFIC) recent webinar “Generally Recognized As Safe or Generally Misunderstood? Understanding GRAS & Food Additive Safety,” which makes the case for FDA maintaining federal control over the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) system.

Tony states there is currently an “unprecedented level of state legislative activity” across the United States. While over 100 bills aimed at reforming the GRAS system (or in some cases replacing it entirely) have been introduced across the country, Tony wants everyone to keep in mind that “some of these legislative proposals would eliminate GRAS entirely, and that would not put us at an equal footing with Europe or anywhere else in the world. It would put us behind, and it would create incredible challenges to innovation, as well as producing an abundant and safe food supply.”

In response to critics who refer to the “GRAS loophole,” which allows manufacturers to self-affirm the safety of chemicals that make it into the food supply, Tony further explained that “Companies are not hiding ingredients within their food that have been secretly determined to be GRAS – that would be a violation of law. They would be misbranding those products as they enter the marketplace.”

To read the full article, please click here.