- On July 3, 2026, the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) released its 2026 Regulatory Agenda, listing agencies’ projected regulatory actions and the timelines for them (although the actions and timelines are subject to change).
- A closely watched item on the Regulatory Agenda is a proposed rule (which we previously blogged about) that would amend FDA’s regulations at 21 CFR parts 170 and 570 to require the submission of a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) notice for the use of a human or animal food substance that is purported to be GRAS under the conditions of its intended use (0910-AJ02). Under the proposed rule, FDA would maintain and update a GRAS notice inventory for all substances subject to the mandatory notification requirement and would clarify the process by which the agency determines that a substance’s use is not GRAS. The proposed rule is tentatively scheduled to be published in December 2026.
- Other proposed rules include: (1) updating nutrient content claims for added sugars (0910-AJ20); (2) revoking standards of identity for (a) certain canned fruits and vegetables for foods no longer sold in the United States (0910-AJ21); (b) certain bakery products and cereal flours (0910-AJ22); (c) frozen peas and definitions associated with them (0910-AJ23); and (3) establishing conditions under which a specific ingredient would not be excluded from the dietary supplement definition, allowing products containing the ingredient to be lawfully marketed as dietary supplements, assuming they otherwise meet the dietary supplement definition (0910-AI91).
- The Regulatory Agenda also includes plans to finalize rules to: (1) permit the use of fluid ultrafiltered milk, fluid ultrafiltered nonfat milk, fluid microfiltered milk, and fluid microfiltered nonfat milk in the manufacture of standardized cheeses and related cheese products (0910-AI42); (2) require the display of front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labeling for food products (0910-AI80); (3) permit the use of salt substitutes in standardized foods in which salt is a required or optional ingredient (0910-AI72); and (4) reduce the minimum soluble solids requirement for pasteurized orange juice (exclusive of the solids from any added optional sweetening ingredients) (0910-AI98).
- Keller and Heckman will continue to monitor food related regulations in the Federal Register.
