The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports it has finalized its new food chemical safety post-market assessment program. 

The agency has also launched reassessments of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and azodicarbonamide (ADA), chemical additives commonly used in a variety of food products. As part of this reassessment, the agency issued two requests for information regarding the use and safety of these chemicals in food.

"Americans want the FDA to take a fresh look at some of the chemical additives that have become widespread in our food supply," said former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. "By establishing a comprehensive, science-based framework for reviewing chemicals like BHT and ADA, we're delivering the rigorous oversight Americans deserve. We will act swiftly based on our findings."

Two documents will guide the FDA’s annual food chemical post-market assessment plan. The first, “Enhanced Systematic Process for Post-Market Assessment of Chemicals in Food,” describes how the FDA will monitor and triage signals that provide information on hazards, use or exposure related to food chemicals, then prioritize for assessment, evaluate and manage these chemicals in the food supply. 

Based on public feedback, the agency streamlined this process, incorporated additional public engagement opportunities, and provided additional details regarding how it will receive and identify potential safety signals, triage signals to determine how they should be handled, and how scientific assessments will be communicated to the public.

The second document, “Post-Market Assessment Prioritization Tool,” helps identify priority food chemicals for full scientific assessment by focusing on potential risk to public health. Based on public comment and external scientific peer review, the FDA made modifications to the agency’s previously proposed method for ranking chemicals for assessment, including streamlining decisional criteria and scoring to focus on public health outcomes and increasing clarity on how the prioritization tool fits into the FDA's overall systematic process.

"Today’s release finalizes our framework for this new, dedicated reassessment program that provides Americans with confidence that the FDA is ensuring chemicals in the U.S. food supply remain safe as new scientific information becomes available," says Kyle Diamantas, acting FDA commissioner. "This systematic, transparent approach helps protect public health and reinforces the rigorous safety standards that protect American consumers."

BHT is used to prevent spoilage of fats and oils and can be found in various food products including breakfast cereals, frozen pizza, frozen meals, baking mixes, cookies, chewing gum and meat products. ADA is used as a whitening agent in cereal flour and as a dough conditioner in breadmaking and has applications in manufacturing food contact materials.

The agency will continue to provide regular updates on the progress of ongoing assessments through the FDA's List of Select Chemicals in the Food Supply Under Review.

The public comment period for the BHT and ADA RFIs will close on July 13. The FDA encourages food manufacturers, researchers and consumers to submit relevant data and information. Full details of the requested data are available in the RFIs for BHT and ADA, and both framework documents are published on the FDA's new post-market safety of chemicals in food webpage