Recently introduced to the New York State Legislature, the Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act (S1239/A1556) would require food companies to disclose their use of any “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) ingredients to the public. The bill would also ban the use of certain, potentially harmful additives and artificial dyes from foods sold or manufactured in the state, or offered in New York schools.

Currently, the bill, sponsored by Senator Brian Kavanagh (D-27) and Assemblymember Anna Kelles, Ph.D. (D-125), is under review by the Senate Agriculture Committee and Assembly Agriculture Committee. Sen. Kavanaugh and Dr. Kelles hope to see the bill enacted in March as part of the State budget process, they revealed in a February 5 press hearing.

The bill has support from consumer protection groups like the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Reports, and the Environmental Working Group.

About the Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act

If passed, the Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act would take effect 180 days after becoming law. Small businesses would be exempt from the law for three years regarding prohibited food additives.

Banning Chemical Additives and Artificial Food Colorants

Specifically, the bill would prohibit statewide foods that contain potassium bromate, propylparaben, and red dye 3. It would also prohibit in schools the sale of foods containing synthetic colorants red 40, blue 1, blue 2, green 3, yellow 5, and yellow 6 (with exemptions for items sold off school premises or at least 1–2 hours after the end of the school day).

It is worth noting that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already revoked its authorization for the use of red dye 3 in foods and ingested drugs in January.

Creating Transparency Around GRAS Substances

Regarding GRAS substances, the bill would amend the New York Agriculture and Markets Law to define "GRAS substance" as any substance that is not included under the definition of "food additive" because it is generally recognized, either among experts qualified by scientific training or by experience as having been adequately shown to be safe under the conditions of its intended use.

Additionally, it would add a section to the Agriculture and Markets Law that would render it unlawful to sell or manufacture foods formulated with the new use of any GRAS substance or combination of GRAS substances, unless a report has been submitted to the New York State Department of Agriculture and is included in a database. Such a report must include certain data and information evidencing a manufacturer's conclusion that a substance is GRAS, as well as a statement about any information the manufacturer may be withholding. The bill would require that data establishing GRAS status of a substance be made publicly available and not be based on trade secrets. The bill would also direct the New York State Department of Agriculture to report GRAS disclosure data in a public database on its website.

Small businesses could be exempt from the GRAS disclosure requirements.

Precedent and Justification for the Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act

The Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act follows the precedent set by the California Food Safety Act and the California School Food Safety Act, which were passed in October 2023 and August 2024, respectively. The California Food Safety Act bans potassium bromate and propylparaben (as well as red dye 3 and brominated vegetable oil, which was also banned for food use by FDA in July 2024), while the California School Food Safety Act prohibits several synthetic food dyes (red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1, blue 2, and green 3) from foods sold or offered at public schools in the state.

Unlike the California bills, however, the New York Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act goes a step further, aiming to partially close the GRAS “loophole” that allows additives to enter the food supply without a formal safety review. FDA’s GRAS process is intended to allow widely used food ingredients, commonly understood to be safe for consumption, to remain on the market without extensive review. However, in the present day, companies have used GRAS as a way to use new additives without subjecting them to formal review.

State legislators, Congress members, and medical and legal experts have called into question the way GRAS is applied in the present day, and whether it has allowed industry to use potentially unsafe food ingredients. In September 2024, U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced to Congress the Toxic Free Food Act, which would overhaul FDA’s GRAS process with several revisions.

“New Yorkers deserve protection from harmful food additives that have known health risks and consequences such as cancer, kidney and thyroid damage, endocrine disruption, and reproductive toxicity. The EU and California have already taken action to protect the quality of their food supply from chemicals and food coloring such as potassium bromate, propylparaben, and toxic variants of red, blue, green, and yellow dye. It is time for New York to do the same,” remarked Dr. Kelles. “We also must close a loophole that allows food and chemical companies to irresponsibly bypass FDA approval for new food additives. Companies can add new chemicals to our foods without notifying the FDA by unilaterally declaring the substance as GRAS, without any oversight, transparency, or public notification. The GRAS designation was established in 1958 and was intended for food additives like sugar, vinegar, and baking soda. However, companies have exploited this loophole for almost all newly introduced chemical food additives.”