The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it is revoking, or proposing to revoke, 52 food standards after concluding they are obsolete and unnecessary. The 52 standards are for canned fruits and vegetables, dairy products, baked goods, macaroni products and other foods.

Today’s actions are the first results from the agency’s ongoing analysis of its portfolio of over 250 food Standards of Identity (SOI) to make sure they are useful, relevant and serve consumers in the best possible way. The removal of these standards is in alignment with broader efforts to ensure that HHS is directing resources to where they’re most needed – delivering better outcomes for the American people.

“I’m eliminating outdated food regulations that no longer serve the interests of American families,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Today marks a crucial step in my drive to cut through bureaucratic red tape, increase transparency and remove regulations that have outlived their purpose.”

The FDA began establishing food standards in 1939 to promote “honesty and fair dealing” and to ensure that the characteristics, ingredients and production processes of specific foods were consistent with what consumers expect. However, advances in food science, agriculture and production practices, and additional consumer protections have made many of these older, rigid “recipe standards” unnecessary.

“The FDA’s Standards of Identity efforts have helped ensure uniformity, boost consumer confidence and prevent food fraud. But many of these standards have outlived their usefulness and may even stifle innovation in making food easier to produce or providing consumers healthier choices,” said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H. “Antiquated food standards are no longer serving to protect consumers. It is common sense to revoke them and move to a more judicious use of food standards and agency resources.”

Today’s actions include publication of the following:

• A direct final rule revoking standards for 11 types of canned fruits and vegetables that are no longer sold in U.S. grocery stores, including seven standards for fruits artificially sweetened with saccharin or sodium saccharin. The agency is issuing a companion proposed rule in the same issue of the Federal Register in case the direct final rule is withdrawn because significant adverse comments are received, and the agency needs to move forward with a proposed rule to put these changes in place.
• A proposed rule that would revoke standards for 18 types of dairy products – including certain milk and cream products, cheeses and related cheese products and frozen desserts.
• A proposed rule that would revoke standards for 23 types of food products –including bakery products, macaroni and noodle products, canned fruit juices, fish and shellfish, and food dressings and flavorings.
  Many of the standards listed in the two proposed rules predate more recent consumer protections such as requirements about ingredient safety, ingredient labeling, food packaging, safe food production and manufacturing practices and nutrition labeling information and claims.

On May 13, HHS and FDA issued a Request for Information to identify and eliminate outdated or unnecessary regulations. This initiative supports a broader federal effort to reduce regulatory burdens and increase transparency, in alignment with President Trump’s Executive Order 14192 “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation.”

Related Information

• Standards of Identity for Food
• List of Standards Affected by FDA’s First Set of Food Standard Revocation Rulemakings

On January 15, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an order revoking the authorization for the use of FD&C Red No. 3 in foods, including dietary supplements (permitted under 21 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 74.303), and in ingested drugs (permitted under 21 CFR 74.1303). The final order stated that manufacturers who use FD&C Red No. 3 in foods and ingested drugs would have until January 15, 2027, or January 18, 2028, respectively, to reformulate their products.

The FDA’s action to revoke the authorization for the use of FD&C Red No. 3 was based on the Delaney Clause of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). The Delaney Clause, enacted in 1960 as part of the Color Additives Amendment to the FD&C Act, prohibits FDA authorization of a color additive if it has been found to induce cancer in humans or animals. The FDA determined that data presented in a 2022 color additive petition showed that FD&C Red No. 3 causes cancer in male laboratory rats when exposed to high levels.

On April 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a series of new measures to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic dyes, also known as color additives subject to certification, from the nation’s food supply. As part of this phase out, HHS and FDA requested food companies to remove FD&C Red No. 3 sooner than the 2027 deadline required by the final order. To support this goal, the FDA encourages food manufacturers to, as soon as is practicably possible, reformulate to stop using FD&C Red No. 3 in foods, including dietary supplements, with the goal of completing phase out before the January 15, 2027, deadline. The FDA believes that accelerating the phase out of the use of FD&C Red No. 3 in foods will help further the goal of Making America Healthy Again.

The FDA recognizes that substituting FD&C Red No. 3 used in foods, including dietary supplements, with other color additives may require the expanded use of authorized color additives and/or the development of new color additives. The FDA also recognizes the widespread interest in substituting FD&C Red No. 3 with color additives derived from other sources, including plants. Regardless of the source material, each color additive must meet the legal safety standard of a reasonable certainty of no harm under the intended conditions of use. The FDA evaluates data in a petition to ensure that the use of a color additive meets the legally required safety standard and issues a regulation prescribing safe conditions of use. Information about color additive petitions is available on FDA’s website: Color Additive Petitions | FDA.

Information from Canadian Food Inspection Agency:

As you may be aware, the Government of Canada recently ordered Hikvision Canada Inc., a large manufacturer of security and video surveillance equipment, to cease all operations in Canada due to national security concerns.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) would like to increase awareness of the order and encourages all of its regulated parties to take note of this decision and review their own security risks and measures regarding these products.

The CFIA has reached out to all regulated parties that have dedicated CFIA workspaces for information on the use of these products to identify and mitigate any potential risks to CFIA information or assets.

Should you have any questions or require more information, do not hesitate to contact the CFIA by email at cfia.security-securite.acia@inspection.gc.ca.

Information from US Food and Drug Administration:

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released for public comment its proposed method for ranking chemicals in the food supply. This method provides a transparent, systematic, and science-based approach to determine which chemicals the agency would prioritize for post-market assessments through the agency’s post-market chemical review program. It will allow the FDA to allocate resources more efficiently, ensuring that the agency focuses on food chemicals that may present the greatest potential public health risk, including risk to sensitive populations, and are of high public concern.

Determining if a chemical—either one intentionally added to food or a contaminant that is not intentionally added—needs to be further evaluated based on new information takes a structured and science-based approach to ensure that the FDA’s reviews are most protective of the health of consumers. The method released today uses Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to determine a score for each chemical based on evaluating the information about a chemical against a pre-determined set of criteria. The method is similar in approach and criteria to one that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency uses for prioritizing chemicals, but the FDA’s method takes into account factors specific to exposure from food and uses a scoring method similar to the FDA’s Risk Ranking Model for Traceability.

The FDA is committed to radical transparency as the agency develops processes for prioritizing chemicals in food for a post-market assessment. These processes will help to ensure that FDA is taking a risk-informed approach in reviewing data and information about the safety of chemicals in the food supply to protect the health of consumers.

Seeking Public Comments

Stakeholder input is critical to inform the FDA’s method and overall approach to post-market assessments of chemicals in the food supply. The FDA encourages the public to comment in docket FDA-2025-N-1733 in response to the questions listed in Section 4 of the method description document. The last day to submit comments on the method is July 18, 2025. After the public comment period closes, the FDA will submit the method and public comments for further evaluation by external scientific experts in line with the requirements of the Information Quality Act.

For More Information

Food Chemical Safety

Information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released two educational videos and a supplemental fact sheet to broaden the dietary supplement industry’s awareness and understanding of the agency’s New Dietary Ingredient Notification (NDIN) review process. These educational materials are intended to help manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements correctly prepare and submit complete NDINs to the FDA.

Section 413 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires that manufacturers and distributors who wish to market certain new dietary ingredients submit a premarket safety notification to the FDA through the NDIN process. This process represents the agency’s only opportunity to evaluate the safety and identity of a new dietary ingredient in dietary supplements before it becomes available to consumers. Having a well-organized and scientifically supported NDIN facilitates an efficient and timely FDA review.

The first video, titled “Important Aspects of the NDIN Process,” and the fact sheet outline several common issues the FDA has observed in the NDIN submission process that could result in unnecessary delays or a negative response from the agency. The second video, titled “Correspondence Between FDA and the Notifier” explains what manufacturers can expect after an NDIN has been submitted to the agency, including the correspondence expected between the FDA and the notifier during the NDIN process.

These materials are intended to help simplify the process for manufacturers and distributors, resulting in more complete NDINs submitted to the FDA and facilitating the agency’s scientific review. For additional questions regarding the agency’s NDIN process, please contact the Office of Dietary Supplement Programs by email at NDITeam@fda.hhs.gov.

Additional Information:

How to Submit Notifications for a New Dietary Ingredient

New Dietary Ingredients in Dietary Supplements – Background for Industry