Food Chemical Reassessment Act of 2021

Bill: 117-hr-4694
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]
Introduced: 2021-07-26
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Executive agency funding and structure

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Food supply, safety, and labeling
Latest action: action_date: 2021-07-27
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Summaries:
action_date: 2021-07-26
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Food Chemical Reassessment Act of 2021</strong></p> <p>This bill establishes the Office of Food Safety Reassessment within the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and addresses related issues.</p> <p>The office must conduct reassessments of additives, food contact substances, and other related substances to ensure that such substances are safe. Specifically, every three years, the office must reassess the safety of at least 10 substances or classes of substances, including those that are generally recognized as safe for use in food. The office must issue final regulations relating to the safety of each reassessed substance. </p> <p>The bill also specifies 10 substances that the office must assess in its first review.</p> <p>The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must reestablish the Food Advisory Committee to advise the FDA on issues related to the substance assessments required by this bill. </p>

tv_txt: I 117th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4694 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 26, 2021 Ms. Schakowsky (for herself, Ms. DeLauro , and Mr. Cárdenas ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish the Office of Food Safety Reassessment, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Food Chemical Reassessment Act of 2021 . 2. Office of Food Safety Reassessment Chapter X of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ( 21 U.S.C. 391 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: 1015. Office of Food Safety Reassessment (a) In general Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of the Food Chemical Reassessment Act of 2021, the Secretary shall establish within the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, an office to be known as the Office of Food Safety Reassessment (referred to in this section as the Office ), to conduct, for purposes of ensuring that food additives, food contact substances, substances generally recognized as safe for use in food , and prior-sanctioned substances or classes thereof are safe within the meaning of section 409, reassessments of the safety of such substances. (b) Safety reassessments Not less frequently than once every three years beginning with 2022, the Office shall— (1) reassess the safety of not less than ten of the food additives, substances, or classes of substances referred to in subsection (a); and (2) issue final regulations— (A) determining that any such substance or class of substance is safe within the meaning of section 409 and establishing the conditions of use, if any, under which any such substance or class of substances can be used safely within the meaning of such section; or (B) determining that any such substance or class of substances is unsafe within the meaning of such section. (c) First substances subject to reassessment The first ten substances or classes of substances reassessed by the Secretary under subsection (b) are the following: (1) Perfluoroalkyl substances and polyfluoroalkyl substances. (2) Ortho-phthalates. (3) Tert-butylhydroquinone. (4) Titanium dioxide. (5) Potassium bromate. (6) Perchlorate. (7) Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). (8) Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). (9) Brominated vegetable oil (BVO). (10) Propyl paraben. (d) Rule of construction Nothing in this section alters the authority or duties of the Secretary with respect to the administration and enforcement of section 409. (e) Food advisory committee Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Food Chemical Reassessment Act of 2021, the Secretary shall re-establish the Food Advisory Committee to advise the Secretary with respect to— (1) the standards for reassessments conducted under this section; and (2) the process and methods necessary to complete the work of the Office. (f) Definitions In this section: (1) The term food contact substance has the meaning given such term in section 409(h)(6). (2) The term generally recognized as safe for use in food means, with respect to a substance used in food, that the substance is 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, as described in section 201(s). (3) The term prior-sanctioned substance means a substance described in paragraph (4) of section 201(s). .