FDA proposes new food ingredient rule but skips defining ‘ultra-processed’

Move closes loophole but doesn’t include definition of ultra-processed foods, promised earlier this year The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is changing its rules on how food manufacturers notify them of ingredients brought to the market – but the Trump administration has once again punted on defining “ultra-processed foods”, promising more details later. While the move would close a regulatory loophole, it falls short of the administration’s promises to reform food regulations dramatically even as one of the biggest foodborne illness outbreaks unfolds. “You have to be kidding. That’s all?” asked Marion Nestle, professor emerita of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. She questioned what took so long for “something so simple and obvious” as closing the loophole and wondered where the proposed definition of ultra-processed foods was – a long-awaited announcement promised earlier this year. The proposed rule, which was submitted to the Federal Register on Monday, would require companies to submit to the FDA all ingredients in foods that are brought to the market under the Generally Recognized As Safe (Gras) pathway, closing a