States’ Rights from GMO to GRAS: What’s Old Is New Again

It’s 2015. The states are proposing and enacting an array of regulations for the use and labeling of GMOs in foods. While right-to-know advocates support the states, the industry is opposing the regulations, explaining the unfeasibility of following 50 different sets of rules if each state is allowed to set its own requirements. Congress gets into the fracas, proposing a bill that, if approved, would (as I stated then) “pre-empt state-level efforts to enact mandatory GMO labeling laws, overturning the state GMO-labeling laws recently passed, and prohibiting local regulation of GMO crops.”

Sound familiar? It’s now 2026, and we’re seeing a nearly exact replica of that situation, but this time it’s focused on GRAS, color additives, ultra-processed food definitions, etc. States are proposing and enacting laws for GRAS substance use and labeling; industry is opposing it as unfeasible to follow a patchwork of laws; and a congressional bill is in the works that would pre-empt state-level enactment of GRAS laws, overturn the state laws recently passed and prohibit local regulation of GRAS.

Whether you agree or disagree with the states’ rights to set their own regulations, their ability to do so often provides the push the federal government needs to consider and enact a federal regulation. This is particularly true when a proposed or enacted state regulation would cause a “patchwork of laws” impacting the distribution of food (or other consumer packaged goods).

In the controversy over GMOs, a number of states began to propose and enact mandates requiring specific — but varied — labeling, which pushed Congress to pass, and the president to sign, a federal bill requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a national standard for GMO labeling.

Although it took another couple of years, the National Bioengineered (BE) Food Disclosure Standard Rule was enacted, requiring that foods for retail sale be labeled to disclose information about BE foods and ingredients. This certainly impacted industry labeling, but that impact was significantly less than what could have resulted from “a patchwork of state regulations” and the much more restrictive labeling requirements of certain states.

In the current GRAS situation, the focus is on both the elimination of self-affirmed GRAS and the disclosing of GRAS ingredients in foods, with proposals in play at both the federal and state levels. As of June, four states had introduced GRAS disclosure proposals:

• California (AB 2034) requiring manufacturers to provide safety evidence for GRAS ingredients and mandating the state to review specific substances and ban unsafe additives.
• New York (S01239) requiring manufacturers to submit information on self-affirmed GRAS ingredients to be compiled into a public database.
• New Jersey (S3277) requiring manufacturers to report and document self-affirmed GRAS determinations to state regulators.
• Pennsylvania (SB820) requiring manufacturers to disclose GRAS usage and safety substantiations to state health authorities.

While there are similarities with these proposed rules, there are just enough variations to make it complex for manufacturers to follow all, particularly as the proposals also include additive restrictions, and any enactment is highly likely to lead to more state regulations along similar lines.

On the federal level, the FRESH and Affordable Foods Act (H.R. 8578) has been proposed, which aims to replace self-affirmed GRAS with a mandatory registry and override state-level chemical bans to establish uniform national standards for food ingredients. Additionally, the Federal Register includes a 2025 FDA proposal to amend the GRAS regulation; however, the publication includes only an abstract of the rule to be proposed.

With pending federal proposals and the controversy between industry and the states, I see it likely that GRAS will continue to follow a similar path as GMOs, with federal regulation eventually being enacted to supersede state rules. But with the pace at which the federal government moves, exactly when this could happen is harder to predict!