Schakowsky, DeLauro Introduce Legislation to Help Ensure the Food We Eat is Safe
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Ranking Member of the Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) reintroduced the Food Chemical Reassessment Act of 2025, which would require the Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements, and Innovation within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that chemicals that have entered the food supply chain through loopholes or that were reviewed by the FDA decades ago are safe to eat.
"Consumers deserve to know that the foods they are eating are safe, but right now, thousands of harmful chemicals in our food are going unchecked and the food industry is regulating itself,” said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. "That is why I am reintroducing the Food Chemical Reassessment Act with my colleague, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, to require the FDA to consistently assess the chemicals that are added to our food. It’s time to put the ‘F’ back in the FDA, and this bill is an important step in ensuring we get toxic chemicals out of our food."
“Food safety is a second-class citizen at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Unlike other common products and chemicals such as fertilizer or pesticides, the FDA is not required to reassess approved food substances even as new science emerges,” said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. “For too long, the food industry has been allowed to self-regulate, and it is past time FDA reassumes their responsibility for ensuring the safety of our food. That is why I am proud to join my colleague Congresswoman Schakowsky in introducing the Food Chemical Reassessment Act, which would require the FDA reassess the chemicals that are added to foods. It is time for the FDA to fully commit to its mission of protecting public health and ensuring the food we eat is safe for consumption, especially as the Trump Administration seeks to decimate the agency by firing 3,500 staff.”
The bill would require the newly created Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements, and Innovation at the FDA to study every three years the safety of at least ten chemicals added to our nation's food or food packaging, starting with: Tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), titanium dioxide, red dye 40, yellow dye 5, blue dye 1, blue dye 2, green dye 3, perchlorate, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), trichloroethylene, methylene chloride, benzene, ethylene chloride, propyl gallate, sodium nitrite, and sodium benzoate. The bill would also re-establish a Food Advisory Council to advise the FDA on the best methods to review the safety of food chemicals.
The Food Chemical Reassessment Act of 2025 is endorsed by Center for Science and the Public Interest, Consumer Reports, Environmental Working Group, Environmental Defense Fund, and Food and Water Watch.
"Too many food chemicals in our food supply haven't been properly reviewed for safety, or haven't been looked at in decades," said Jessica Hernandez, EWG Policy Director. "Other countries regularly reexamine the safety of food chemicals as new science emerges, but here in the U.S. food chemicals have been left behind in a regulatory black hole. We're grateful to Rep. Schakowsky and Rep. DeLauro for taking action to make sure the FDA is doing its job, and to bring food chemical reviews into the 21st century to better protect public health."
“All Americans deserve a Food and Drug Administration that puts our safety ahead of the food industry’s interests, yet there are over 1,000 ingredients in our food that the FDA has never reviewed. Many more were approved decades ago with little or no data and have not been evaluated since. The Food Chemical Reassessment Act would help protect public health with a much-needed assessment of these chemicals and bring food safety regulations up to date,” said Maria Doa, Senior Director of Chemicals Policy at Environmental Defense Fund.
“FDA routinely allows substances to remain in foods long after evidence of harm emerges. While the agency has pledged to systemically reassess these chemicals, the Food Chemical Reassessment Act would ensure FDA completes those evaluations in a timely manner and begins with chemicals that already have evidence of harm,” said Peter Lurie, President and Executive Director of CSPI.
Currently, there are thousands of chemicals added to food to make it last longer, taste better, and look more enticing. Yet, most of these chemicals have never been reviewed by the FDA or were reviewed decades ago. Instead, these chemicals have entered our food supply through a loophole – called the GRAS, or "generally recognized as safe," loophole – that Congress intended to apply to clearly safe ingredients like vinegar. Since this loophole was first proposed in 1997, food companies have added new substances to the food supply with almost no federal oversight.
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