The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the public comment period by 30 days for its proposed method for ranking chemicals in the food supply for post-market assessments. Comments will be accepted through Aug. 18.
On June 18, the FDA released for public comment its proposed method for ranking chemicals in the food supply. This method aims to provide a transparent, systematic, science-based approach to determine which food chemicals the agency would prioritize for post-market assessments through the FDA's post-market chemical review program.
The proposed method would use Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) to determine a score for each chemical based on an evaluation of certain information against pre-determined criteria. This approach would allow the FDA to allocate resources more efficiently, the agency said, ensuring that the FDA focuses on food chemicals that may present the greatest potential public health risk, including risk to sensitive populations, and that are of high public concern.
The original comment period was scheduled to close on July 18. The deadline extension will provide additional time for stakeholders to review the proposed method and submit feedback.
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. Stakeholder input is critical to help inform the FDA's proposed method and the agency’s overall approach to post-market assessments of chemicals in the food supply, said the agency.
After the new public comment period closes, the FDA will submit the proposed method and public comments for further evaluation by external scientific experts in line with the requirements of the Information Quality Act.