New York's legislature has passed the Food Safety Chemical and Disclosure Act, forcing large food companies to reveal ingredients they've self-declared safe and banning three additives outright. The bill now awaits Governor Hochul's signature.
New York may become the first state to force large food companies to disclose ingredients they've quietly decided are safe on their own, as reported by Green Queen. The state's Senate and Assembly have both reportedly passed the Food Safety Chemical and Disclosure Act, which now reportedly sits on Governor Kathy Hochul's desk awaiting a signature.
The bill takes aim at what critics call the self-affirmed GRAS loophole: a pathway that lets manufacturers introduce new food chemicals without ever notifying the FDA.
Here's the conventional wisdom the bill pushes back on: that federal oversight is already catching what goes into the American food supply. The reality is messier. The GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) rule was created by Congress in 1958, with the self-affirmation provision reportedly added in 1972. Under that provision, companies can convene their own scientific panel, declare an ingredient safe, and bring it to market without telling regulators or the public.
The numbers explain why lawmakers are frustrated. According to reports, the FDA evaluates only around 75 GRAS notices a year, with a mean approval time of over 160 days. Self-affirmation is faster, cheaper, and keeps proprietary formulations private.
If Hochul signs, large companies selling food in New York would have to hand over the scientific basis and safety data behind any self-affirmed GRAS ingredient, including manufacturing processes, dietary exposure estimates, and both favorable and unfavorable findings. The state's Department of Agriculture and Markets would then publish a public database of those ingredients. The rules would take effect one year after enactment.
Small businesses with fewer than 100 employees are exempt.
The legislation also reportedly bans three additives outright: Red Dye No. 3, potassium bromate, and propylparaben. Retailers get up to three years to clear existing stock.
According to reports, Senator Brian Kavanagh, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the legislation represents a critical step toward protecting New Yorkers from potentially harmful chemicals in food, despite what he characterized as misinformation from the food industry.
Assemblymember Anna Kelles, another co-sponsor, reportedly argued the GRAS pathway has drifted far from its original purpose, saying it was never intended to allow new synthetic chemical additives into the food supply without independent oversight or transparency.
Jessica Hernandez, legislative director of the Environmental Working Group, reportedly told Green Queen the bill represents an important reform to the US food chemical review process.
Industry response has been predictably sharp. The American Beverage Association and the National Supermarket Association — whose members include Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper — reportedly called the bill a misguided patchwork of food and beverage regulation. Their argument: duplicative reporting burdens and consumer confusion.
This corporate exploitation of regulatory loopholes isn't limited to chemical additives—our team recently put together a video investigation showing how similar industry influence has quietly weakened organic certification standards at the USDA level. The parallels between self-affirmed GRAS chemicals and the erosion of organic integrity reveal a disturbing pattern in how food safety oversight gets systematically undermined.
The federal picture is in flux. Reports suggest the FDA has proposed scrapping the self-affirmed GRAS pathway entirely, a move reportedly championed by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. That rule is under White House review, but industry groups have already signaled legal challenges. Tony Pavel, a partner at Keller and Heckman LLP, reportedly warned that a sudden mandate without more FDA funding could jam review timelines further.
New York isn't alone. A similar bill in California would reportedly give state officials authority to run independent GRAS safety assessments. New Jersey and Pennsylvania are reportedly weighing their own versions.
Why this matters for anyone tracking food transparency: state-level action is starting to set the floor that federal regulators haven't. We saw a version of this dynamic when the FDA paused natural food dye approvals, leaving brands stuck between consumer demand and slow federal machinery. New York's move pressures that machinery from below.
The broader question isn't whether self-affirmed GRAS should exist. It's who benefits from opacity. A public database doesn't stop innovation in the food chemical space. It just forces companies to show their work. For shoppers trying to make better choices without a chemistry degree, that's the whole point.
