FDA Extends Deadline for Comments on Expanding the Redbook

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the deadline for public comments about whether to expand the products included in its guidance titled “Toxicological Principles for the Safety Assessment of Food Ingredients”—also known as the “Redbook.”

The agency is apparently considering this expansion “to include chemical safety assessments for all products over which FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) has statutory authority including regulatory contexts such as food additives, food contact substances, dietary supplement ingredients, food contaminants, and cosmetics.” According to FDA, “The Redbook would describe toxicological principles which apply across regulatory categories while still providing specific guidance for applying these principles within each particular context. The safety of foods containing microbial contaminants will continue to remain outside of the scope of the Redbook.” Comments may now be submitted until May 11, 2015. See Federal Register, February 2, 2015.