FDA plans to review chemicals in US food supply, official says
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose agency oversees the FDA, has pledged to tackle chronic illnesses by overhauling the U.S. diet. He has pushed for bans on synthetic food colors and encouraged fast-food chains to switch to beef tallow instead of seed oils for French fries.
The FDA, which has suffered mass layoffs under President Donald Trump, will update a list of chemicals that will be top priorities for reviews, said Diamantas, acting deputy commissioner for human foods.
"Historically FDA has been somewhat reactionary when it comes to reviewing chemicals in the food supply," he said at a food safety conference outside Chicago. "The goal is to move to a proactive process to ensure that the chemicals in our food remain safe."
The FDA will prioritize reviews of chemicals including butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT); butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA); and azodicarbonamide (ADA), Diamantas said. BHT is one of the most commonly used antioxidants in foods containing fats, according to the health department, opens new tab.
The FDA plans to release a scheme for highlighting other chemicals for reviews that will be available for public feedback this month, Diamantas said. Chemicals may be assessed based on consumers' concerns or on other countries' data and regulatory actions, he said.
Even as food chemicals and nutrition have received a lot of attention, Diamantas told the conference that the FDA is still committed to microbiological food safety, which is the agency's division with the most employees and funding.
Kennedy said on Wednesday that the "central focus" of the FDA and National Institutes of Health will be on studying ultra-processed foods, sugars and food additives.
At the CDC, which also operates under Kennedy, an environmental health division endured layoffs and is no longer at the agency, said Megin Nichols, director of CDC's division of foodborne, waterborne, and environmental diseases.
The division was critical to food safety and CDC continues to "maintain the spirit of that work," Nichols said in a virtual appearance at the conference.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
RFK Jr strides into new controversy: hiking in sweltering Arizona … in jeans
Robert F Kennedy Jr has promoted contrarian ideas around issues such as vaccines but another, more sartorial, choice has also raised eyebrows – an insistence on wearing jeans while exercising. On Saturday, the US health secretary took a strenuous hike up Camelback Mountain, situated near Phoenix, Arizona. Despite the temperature rising above 90F (32C) on the morning of his hike – Phoenix hit 107F (41C) later that day – Kennedy conducted the hike in dark blue jeans, posing for pictures along the way in a sweat-drenched green T-shirt. The choice of jeans by the 71-year-old confused some of those who encountered him. 'It was about 92F, I think, temperature-wise, at that point, so very impressive for him to have done that at his age,' Matt Larson, a hiker who talked to Kennedy on the trail, told Fox 10. 'I remember thinking: 'That wouldn't be my choice of hiking apparel in this weather,' but you know, kinda a generational thing.' Larson said it was 'cool' to meet Kennedy but added: 'It is pretty risky to be hiking if you're not acclimated to our weather in the heat.' 'Bro is out here hiking that damn mountain in jeans and 110+ weather!?' one X user commented on the health secretary's post about the hike. Another wondered: 'Jeans? Phoenix? July?!?' Phoenix is known for its ferocious heat and has broken records in recent years for elevated temperatures which, like the rest of the US, are being fueled by the human-caused climate crisis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is part of Kennedy's department, recommends that people drink plenty of fluids, pace themselves and 'wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing and sunscreen' during periods of extreme heat. Heat is one of the largest weather-related killers in the US, with more than 2,300 people dying due to swelteringly hot days in 2023 alone, although the true number may be far higher. Kennedy, though, has shown himself to be an ardent devotee of denim. The vaccine sceptic has been videoed undertaking gym workouts shirtless and wearing jeans. In May, Kennedy even waded into a contaminated Washington creek wearing jeans and no top. In photos posted online, Kennedy was shown playing with his grandchildren in the creek and even submerging himself entirely under the water. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Headlines US Free newsletter Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Rock Creek, which winds through north-west Washington, has high levels of bacteria, including E coli, as it is used to drain excess sewage and storm water after heavy rainfall. As a result, city officials have banned swimming in the creek due to the dangers posed to human, and pet, health. Kennedy, who previously revealed that a parasitic worm had 'got into my brain and ate a portion of it', is known for his unusual outdoor adventures. Prior to joining Donald Trump's administration and overseeing widespread cuts to health experts and services, Kennedy divulged that he once strapped a dead whale carcass to his car roof and, separately, accidentally killed a baby bear and then dumped the corpse in New York City's Central Park to make it appear it had been hit by a cyclist. The health and human services department was contacted for comment.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Tennessee judge gives state leeway on deactivating inmate's heart-regulating device before execution
A Tennessee judge ruled on Tuesday that the state can deactivate a death-row inmate's implanted heart-regulating device at a hospital on the morning of his execution, rather than bringing a doctor or technician into the execution chamber. The ruling comes after Deputy Attorney General Cody Brandon told the judge they could not comply with an earlier order requiring Byron Black 's implanted cardioverter-defibrillator to be turned off just prior to the injection of a lethal dose of pentobarbital on Aug. 5. In the Friday order, Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Russell Perkins agreed with Black's attorneys that not deactivating the device could cause Black to suffer needlessly as it continuously shocks him in an attempt to restore his heart's normal rhythm during the execution. At a Tuesday hearing on the issue, Brandon said Black's physicians at Nashville General Hospital are unwilling to come to the execution chamber. That means the Friday chancellor's order is, in effect, an order to stay the execution, which only the Tennessee Supreme Court has the power to do, he argued. Brandon asked the judge to either overturn his Friday order or allow the Tennessee Department of Correction to take Black to the hospital for the deactivation on Aug. 4. Kelley Henry, who represents Black, argued that the state should not be allowed to deactivate the device prematurely because doing so could result in Black's death while he still has the possibility of a last-minute reprieve. ' On August 4, we will still be in other courts seeking a stay of execution,' Henry said. She also said state officials had not really tried to find a doctor willing to come to the prison. She first brought the issue up with the Tennessee Department of Correction in early June, but it was not until the Friday order that they began to look into it, and then they only contacted Nashville General Hospital. 'It's like when you tell a teenager to clean up their room, and they pick up one sock,' she said. The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator is a small, battery-powered electronic instrument, surgically implanted in the chest, that serves as a pacemaker and an emergency defibrillator. Perkins noted in court on Tuesday that during a two-day hearing last week on the issue, a doctor testifying for Black said that deactivating the device is quick and doesn't require surgery, only a handheld machine. Meanwhile, the state did not present any testimony at the time that deactivation would be an administrative or logistical burden. In modifying his own order on Tuesday, Perkins wrote that it is obvious the state has 'taken only minimal steps' to comply with his Friday order. However, Perkins said he also wants to ensure that his ruling can't be construed as an attempt to interfere with the execution. 'I've lost sleep over this because I want to do the right thing,' Perkins said at the hearing. 'I want to honor the memories of these victims' while also making sure the execution is properly carried out. Black was convicted in the 1988 shooting deaths of girlfriend Angela Clay, 29, and her two daughters, Latoya, 9, and Lakeisha, 6. Prosecutors said Black was in a jealous rage when he shot the three at their home. At the time, Black was on work-release while serving time for shooting and wounding Clay's estranged husband. 'Had she not been killed, Lakeisha would be in her 40s today,' Brandon told the judge on Tuesday. ' Justice has waited 37 years. It should not wait any longer.' Black's motion related to his heart device came within a general challenge he and other death row inmates filed against the state's new execution protocol. The trial isn't until 2026.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Science has proven why your skin wrinkles. Here is what you need to know
Researchers finally know why our skin wrinkles over time - and Silly Putty can help explain it. Scientists at New York's Binghamton University say experimental evidence shows that it's a similar process to stretching out a favorite hoodie or t-shirt from overuse. Essentially, aging skin stretches in one direction, contracts in another, and then collapses. As you age, the contraction gets bigger, resulting in the formation of the skin folds and creases. 'If you stretch Silly Putty, for instance, it stretches horizontally, but it also shrinks in the other direction — it gets thinner,' Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Guy German, explained in a statement. 'That's what skin does, as well.' Wrinkles start to appear after around the age of 25 years old, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Scientists have long believed that skin wrinkles due to genetics, the effects of disease, and damage from the sun. As you get older, your skin cells are replaced at a slower rate, causing the skin's outer layer to thin and forming wrinkles. Lines in the face, including forehead and frown lines, are largely out of our control, as they're caused by repeated muscle movements. Previous studies, using computational models, have also shown changes in the mechanical properties such as the elasticity and structure of the skin's middle layer during aging. The layer, which contains the proteins elastin and collagen, is the home to hair follicles, blood vessels, and sweat glands. Until now, those changes had never been proven experimentally. 'When I got into this field, that was one of my goals – can I figure out aging?' said German. 'Because if I look at the TV, the radio, online, at shops, I'm being told 1,000 different things about how to improve my skin health, and I want to know what's right and what isn't.' To reach these conclusions, German and his team used a low-force tensometer to stretch out seven tiny strips of skin from people between the ages 16 through 91, simulating the forces the skin naturally experiences. The tensometer tests the maximum force a material can withstand while being pulled or stretched before breaking. The skin was collected through elective surgery or tissue from cadavers. They found that the skin has one set of mechanical properties when you're young. As you age, things get a bit 'wonky,' German noted. 'Things degrade a bit, and it turns out the skin stretches laterally more, which causes the actual wrinkles that form,' said German. 'And the reason why that exists in the first place is that your skin is not in a stress-free state. It's actually stretched a little bit. So there are inherent forces within your skin itself, and those are the driving force towards wrinkles.' The research, which didn't delve into how these forces could be halted, was published recently in the Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials. Of course, there are other things that we know affect the skin that can contribute to appearance over time. Spending too much time outside can result in a nasty sun burn, as well as age the skin prematurely with the same effect as aging naturally. 'If you spend your life working outside, you're more likely to have more aged and wrinkled skin than those who are office workers, for example,' German warned.
