Is Self-Affirming GRAS Off the Menu?

On June 24, 2025, in a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed that his department plans to soon launch an advertising campaign encouraging Americans to use wearable health devices. The campaign is set to be “one of the biggest advertising campaigns in HHS history.”

On June 17, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) program, a new program that aims to speed up drug application review for companies aligned with U.S. national priorities. In terms of qualifying for the program, the key differentiator between this program and other “priority” review programs is that the application must support increased domestic drug manufacturing—presumably meaning that the applicant commits to manufacture the drug in the United States. The key benefit is that drug developers can redeem the vouchers to accelerate their application review time from 10-12 months to one to two months after a sponsor’s final drug application submission. The program includes enhanced communication with the sponsor and will utilize a team-based review process, in which a multidisciplinary team of FDA experts, who will prereview clinical information, gather for a one-day “tumor board style” meeting. While some of the review work is envisioned to be “front loaded” before the actual application is submitted, it is still the case that a two-month review window would be a radical acceleration of the review timeline compared to standard review times.

Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released two educational videos and a supplemental fact sheet to guide dietary supplement manufacturers and distributors through the New Dietary Ingredient Notification (NDIN) review process. Under Section 413 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, manufacturers and distributors must submit an NDIN to notify FDA before marketing a dietary supplement with a new dietary ingredient. These resources offer guidance on structuring submissions and outline what to expect during the agency’s review. Ultimately, they are intended to enhance the quality of NDIN submissions and minimize common pitfalls, with the goal of avoiding delays or unfavorable results in the agency’s review.

Over the weekend, the Department of Justice (DOJ) did not file an appeal of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas’ decision to vacate and set aside the agency’s final rule on the regulation of laboratory developed tests (LDTs), titled Medical Devices; Laboratory Developed Tests (the LDT Rule). The LDT Rule would have required laboratories to ensure that their offered LDTs met medical device requirements under a multistage phase out of Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) enforcement discretion policy. While the government’s decision not to appeal this ruling may not have been a surprise, questions remain as to how FDA plans to clarify its policy towards lab test offerings going forward.

On May 30, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services released additional information regarding the Trump administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget request. The release of these FY26 budget materials is timely as Secretary Kennedy and the Food and Drug Commissioner Dr. Makary have started to testify before Congress on the FY26 budget and the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are moving forward with their annual appropriations work. Further still, the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies is scheduled to markup their FY26 Ag-FDA Approps bill later this week.

Yesterday, the White House’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission, led by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released its inaugural health report titled, Make Our Children Healthy Again, delivering one of the first widely anticipated deliverables from the MAHA Commission Executive Order issued earlier this year and noted in our prior alert. The 72-page assessment examines the rising rates of childhood chronic disease in the country—including obesity, heart disease and diabetes—and explores potential contributing factors. Specifically, the report identifies and focuses on four potential drivers:

On May 9, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted three color additive petitions, approving two new colorings and expanding one existing approval. These approvals come after the agency’s announcement last month to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic dyes in food by the end of 2026 and transition to natural alternatives (see our post here). Under section 721 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), color additives (unless exempt from batch certification) are subject to FDA approval to determine their safety for use in food. The agency evaluates the safety of color additives based on multiple factors including projected human dietary exposure to the additive, toxicological data, and other relevant information. Once FDA approves a color additive petition, any manufacturer can use the additive in foods for the approved intended uses.

In the last two weeks, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has filled key artificial intelligence (AI) positions at HHS and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These appointments, as well as recent statements from HHS and FDA leadership, align with the Trump administration’s intention to use AI to improve regulatory efficiency at HHS and beyond.