GRAS

Recall that the section 321(s) which defines the term "food additive" excludes substances Generally Recognized as Safe. The provision is reproduced below in its entirety. The term “food additive” means any substance the intended use of which results or may reasonably be expected to result, directly or indirectly, in its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of any food (including any substance intended for use in producing, manufacturing, packing, processing, preparing, treating, packaging, transporting, or holding food; and including any source of radiation intended for any such use), if such substance is not generally recognized, among experts qualified by scientific training and experience to evaluate its safety, as having been adequately shown through scientific procedures (or, in the case of a substance used in food prior to January 1, 1958, through either scientific procedures or experience based on common use in food) to be safe under the conditions of its intended use; except that such term does not include— (1) a pesticide chemical residue in or on a raw agricultural commodity or processed food; or (2) a pesticide chemical; or (3) a color additive; or (4) any substance used in accordance with a sanction or approval granted prior to September 6, 1958, pursuant to this chapter, the Poultry Products Inspection Act [21 U.S.C. 451 et seq.] or the Meat Inspection Act of March 4, 1907, as amended and extended [21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.]; (5) a new animal drug; or (6) an ingredient described in paragraph (ff) in, or intended for use in, a dietary supplement. 21 U.S.C. 321(s). Two groups of substances qualify as GRAS. First, substances used in food prior to 1958 are grandfathered and automatically considered GRAS. 21 C.F.R. 170.30(c). The FDA later extended the grandfathered substances to include substances commonly used in foods prior to 1958 outside the United States. 21 C.F.R. 170.30(c)(2). Grandfathering, or exempting an already existing class of substances or regulated parties like factories, is a common practice in regulatory policy. It is, however, worth pausing to consider the historical sequence. A massive increase in the use of chemicals in food prompts public concern, congressional investigations, and ultimately federal legislation. The federal legislation governs virtually chemicals added to foods, with one main exception--those chemicals added that are recognized as safe. Which chemicals are generally recognized as safe? All chemicals that are being commonly added to foods in the United States (and soon thereafter, anywhere in the world). Thus, the legislation stopped virtually none of the chemicals that gave rise to fear and legislation from being added to foods in the future. The the use of grandfathering as a regulatory strategy and the use of commonality as a marker of safety combined to allow almost all historical chemical additives to continue to be used in foods. In addition to chemicals commonly used in foods prior to 1958, a second group of substances are classified as GRAS based on scientific determination via one of two routes. First, a party may request that FDA review scientific information and conclude that a substance is GRAS. Second, a party can engage in "self-determination"--a process which typically involves convening a group of GRAS experts who review all available information about a substance and proper a report concluding that the substance is safe. The latter involves some risk that FDA will agree, but it also allows for the immediate marketing of the food and avoids what can be a time consuming pre approval process for food additives.