NY Bill Would Require GRAS Reporting Requirement

In New York State, two bills were recently introduced seeking to enact the “Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act.” (See Senate Bill S1239 and Assembly Bill A1556.) The bills would establish reporting requirements for generally recognized as safe (GRAS) substances used in or on food, ban certain food additives and food color additives, and prohibit the sale of food containing certain color additives in schools during school hours.

The data that would be required in reports on GRAS substances used in or on food include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Name and address of the reporter or reporting organization;
• The name of any GRAS substances discussed in the report;
• The identity, method of manufacture, specification, and physical or technical effect of the notified substance;
• Intended conditions for the use, levels of use, and purposes for use of the GRAS substance(s) and, when appropriate, a description of any subpopulation expected to consume GRAS substance(s);
• Statutory basis for the conclusion of GRAS status;
• Dietary exposure to the notified substance; and 
• Views as to whether any of the data and information in the GRAS report are exempt from disclosure under the freedom of information law

Reports would not have to be submitted for certain exempted GRAS substances. These, among others, include: 

• Substances for which FDA issued a letter stating it has no question regarding the conclusion that the substance is GRAS under its intended conditions of use; 
• Any substances recognized in federal regulations as prior sanctioned or GRAS substances for use in food or food packaging; and
• Food-contact substances with an effective premarket notification

In addition, small businesses would be exempt from the reporting requirement.

The bill also specifies that the Commissioner of the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets shall make the GRAS reports available to the public in a searchable database and that reporters may be charged a fee to recover the costs incurred in listing a substance and maintaining the database. Information designated by the submitter as a trade secret would be redacted from the report (provided that data establishing the general recognition of safety shall not be redacted).

The food additives and food color additives that would be banned under the legislation are potassium bromate, propylparaben, and FD&C Red No. 3. Should the bills pass, the ban on these additives would commence one year from the act’s effective date. The bill also prohibits the sale of food and beverages containing FD&C Red No. 3 and 40, FD&C Blue No. 1 and 2, FD&C Green No. 3, and FD&C Yellow No. 5 and 6 in schools during school hours.

SB S1239 and AB S1556 are currently before their respective chambers’ Agriculture Committees. The act would become effective 180 days after it becomes law.

A similar bill was introduced in the previous legislative session. (See the packaginglaw.com article, New York Bill Would Establish GRAS Substances Reporting Requirement, for information on that bill.)