ICYMI: In NYDN Op-Ed, CSPI Regulatory Counsel Urges Gov. Hochul to Clean Up New York's Food Supply

ALBANY, NY (08/10/2026) (readMedia)-- Today, CSPI Regulatory Counsel Jensen Jose penned an op-ed for the New York Daily News urging Governor Hochul to clean up the state's food supply and sign two key public health bills into law: the Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act and the Baby Food and Infant Formula Safety and Transparency Act.

As a father, Jose testified before the FDA on toxic heavy metals hiding in baby food products in 2020, shortly after Congress published two reports revealing dangerously high toxin levels under the FDA's watch, unbeknownst to parents and communities nationwide. Due to a history of lax federal regulation, there are also currently thousands of chemicals in the nation's food supply that have bypassed FDA review - some of which pose a serious threat to children and families.

"Most New Yorkers assume the items on their grocery shelves and school meals are safe, and for good reason: the FDA is supposed to protect the food supply and establish guardrails against products that can cause cancer, neurobehavioral issues, or reproductive harm. The truth is, many processed foods today contain thousands of chemicals and contaminants that the agency and parents just do not know about ... New York now has a chance to do what Washington won't. Now only Hochul's signature stands between New Yorkers and better food."

To strengthen industry transparency standards and remove harmful chemicals from New York's food supply, Albany lawmakers have already passed both pieces of legislation. If signed by the Governor, the Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act would require manufacturers to disclose safety data for chemicals that have bypassed the FDA's formal safety review, and ban harmful additives Red No. 3, potassium bromate, and propylparaben in foods sold statewide. The Baby Food and Infant Formula Safety and Transparency Act would mandate testing of baby food and infant formula for toxic heavy metals - cadmium, arsenic, lead, and mercury - and require those results to be made public.

Read the full op-ed here and below.

Full Text:

Hochul must remove chemicals from food

By Jensen Jose

Six years ago, my oldest child was not even a year old when I testified before the FDA about a little-known issue: the unreasonable levels of toxic heavy metals hiding in baby food and infant formula. At the time, the FDA was taking public comments as the agency began its Closer to Zero initiative, geared toward lowering the levels of toxic heavy metals in baby foods.

Unfortunately, the FDA did not initiate this program on its own. The move was a response to two congressional reports revealing dangerously high toxin levels in baby food under the agency's watch. Without most families ever knowing, some of the biggest baby food companies were selling heavily contaminated products and devising testing protocols that systematically underestimate how much of these metals end up in the foods parents feed their infants.

My second child is now entering preschool, but when those reports first came out at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I had no way of knowing whether the formula I was buying for my babies contained unacceptable levels of these toxins. I stood in line for hours just to purchase baby food and formula for my children, knowing I had no idea if their food was actually safe.

That fear shouldn't be thought of as a normal part of parenting, but for too many families, it still is. Most New Yorkers assume the items on their grocery shelves and school meals are safe, and for good reason: the FDA is supposed to protect the food supply and establish guardrails against products that can cause cancer, neurobehavioral issues, or reproductive harm. The truth is, many processed foods today contain thousands of chemicals and contaminants that the agency and parents just do not know about.

New York now has a chance to do what Washington won't.

Sitting on Gov. Hochul's desk are two bills that will get dangerous chemicals out of our food, give families the transparency they deserve, and protect public health: the Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act and the Baby Food and Infant Formula Safety and Transparency Act.

Both are necessary steps toward transparency: the first will ban harmful additives Red No. 3, propylparaben, and potassium bromate and require manufacturers to disclose the chemicals used in their products. The latter will mandate testing of baby food and infant formula for toxic heavy metals - cadmium, arsenic, lead, and mercury - and require those results to be made public, something that is not required under federal law.

Even low levels of these contaminants can cause irreversible brain damage or other serious harm in babies and young children, with effects that last a lifetime. Whether they're picking out baby formula or simply doing the weekly grocery run, no parent should have to worry that they're unknowingly feeding their children poison. While the FDA may have failed to protect my kids, it's not too late for Albany to fill the gap our federal food safety net has left behind.

The Legislature has already taken the crucial step, passing both bills. Now only Hochul's signature stands between New Yorkers and better food. It's time for the governor to sign this landmark package into law and make New York a national model for food safety and transparency.

Jose is senior regulatory counsel at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which pushes government and industry to make transparent, science-based decisions in service of a safer food environment.

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