Chemical Control

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The Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act would mandate public disclosures of “Generally Recognized as Safe” substances used in foods manufactured or sold in New York. It has passed the Assembly and Senate, and now awaits the Governor’s signature into law. 

AB 1603 would prohibit the registration of pesticides containing intentionally added PFAS in the state.

Large-scale recycled manure use—a circular agriculture approach used to combat soil acidification that reduces crop yield—can lead to the accumulation of cadmium in soil, which is then taken up by rice crops, affecting food safety.

In 2025, FDA sampled domestic and imported honey to detect food fraud. Consistent with previous years, the rate of fraud was low, but still high enough to emphasize the ongoing vulnerability of honey to economically motivated adulteration.

FDA’s Human Foods Program specifically would receive a significant increase in funding compared to the previous fiscal year (FY), including $25 million to help address chemical contaminants and additives like PFAS, toxic heavy metals, and GRAS ingredients.

Rothamsted Research scientists have developed gene-edited wheat with substantially reduced levels of free asparagine, a precursor to acrylamide. Biscuits produced from gene-edited wheat showed a 93 percent reduction in acrylamide compared to controls.

This episode of Food Safety Five discusses the Environmental Working Group’s 2026 “Dirty Dozen” list of the most “pesticide-contaminated produce,” including ongoing debate over the list’s methodology and its relevance to food safety and public health.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) recently published the findings from several food sampling and testing assignments for microbiological and chemical contaminants across a range of food categories. In general, the results were satisfactory.

Arguing that states’ authority to require pesticide health warnings is critical to filling gaps in EPA oversight and risk communication, a coalition has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case Monsanto v. Durnell, in which Monsanto (now Bayer), the maker of glyphosate-based Roundup, seeks to strike down that authority. 

The 28^th session of the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods made advances related to maximum residue limits (MRLs), extrapolation approaches, and risk management guidance, with several measures forwarded to the Codex Alimentarius Commission for adoption.