The outgoing head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave a blunt assessment Thursday of America's problem with obesity, ultra-processed foods, and chemicals in the nation's food supply.
Dr. Robert Califf, who has led the FDA since 2022, told U.S. senators on who grilled him over the agency's regulation of the food industry that there is still much research to do to unequivocally know what ingredients are safe and what is not.
Specifically, Califf told senators at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that the agency's funding requests have gone largely unanswered, leaving it unable to conduct such research.
Without the scientific evidence, Califf explained, there's no legal path forward to banning substances that companies want to sell to consumers who demand it.
"The point I want to make is what sounds simple, given the current state of judicial affairs, First Amendment rights, the fact that corporations have the same rights as individuals -- every little thing we do, unless specifically in detail instructed by Congress. It's not just that we lose in court, but we lose years," Califf said during the hearing, titled, "What Is the FDA Doing to Reduce the Diabetes and Obesity Epidemics in America and Take on the Greed of the Food and Beverage Industry?"
One example given in the hearing by Califf and his deputy, Jim Jones, the FDA's first-ever deputy commissioner for human foods, was Red No. 3, a food dye, or color additive, made from petroleum that gives drinks and foods a cherry-red color, according to the FDA.
While Red No. 3 has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals, scientists do not believe the substance triggers the same "mechanism of carcinogenicity" when ingested by humans, Jones told the Senate panel.
Fresh organic eggs distributed to Costco recalled due to salmonella concernsUnder current U.S. law, the FDA cannot ban Red No. 3 while scientists try to determine with certainty that it is safe for humans.
And to determine that the food dye is safe for humans, the FDA needs resources to do long-term studies of large populations, according to Califf.
"We have repeatedly asked for better funding for chemical safety … Please look at our request for funding for the people who do this work, remember that when we do ban something, it will go to court, and if we don't have the scientific evidence … we will lose in court," Califf said.
Red No. 3 was first approved by the FDA in 1969 and has been reviewed "multiple times" since according to the agency.
Califf told senators that unlike in Europe, where regulators are able to monitor substances closely once they are available to consumers, the FDA has not been given those resources.
The FDA's website notes that color additives like Red. No. 3 must be shown to be "safe under its intended conditions of use" before being allowed to be added to foods.
"When the FDA approves the use of a color additive, the regulations specify the products in which it can be used, any maximum amounts allowed to be used, and how the color additive is to be declared on the label," the agency states.
At another point in the hearing, Califf described the changes he has overseen at the FDA to address food safety, telling senators, "We have just completed the largest reorganization in FDA's history, in no small part, so that we could take on the issues of nutrition and chemicals in our food supply."
Califf's testimony Thursday was delivered amid a spate of headline-making food recalls and an incoming presidential administration whose Health and Human Services nominee has pledged to "Make America Healthy Again."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., picked by President-elect Donald Trump to lead HHS, the parent agency of the FDA, has vowed to crack down on dyes in the food industry and to reduce pesticides in the farm and agriculture industry.
He has also said that he would gut the entire nutrition department at the FDA and has called for restrictions on ultra-processed foods to help address the high rates of chronic disease in the U.S.
Doing so would require Kennedy Jr. to override current regulations set by the agency he'd potentially oversee or put new regulations in place, both of which would require overcoming political and bureaucratic obstacles.
ABC News' Mary Kekatos, Anne Flaherty and Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.
