ZOOM: Kavanagh, Kelles, Advocates to Celebrate Passage of New York's Landmark Food Transparency and Safety Law

ALBANY, NY (04/24/2026) (readMedia)-- On Monday, New York lawmakers Senator Brian Kavanagh and Assemblymember Dr. Anna Kelles, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and leading public health advocates will hold a virtual press conference celebrating the passage of the Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act (S1239F/A1556G) through the state legislature, landmark legislation designed to provide transparency in the state's food supply and protect public health, amid rampant gaps in federal food safety regulation. Health advocates, doctors, and families worked to counter a yearslong misinformation campaign from Big Food, playing an instrumental role in advancing the legislation. After unanimously passing the New York State Senate with bipartisan support on March 23rd, the bill cleared the Assembly on April 21st, and now awaits action by Governor Kathy Hochul.

Join the Zoom conference here.

Sponsored by Senator Kavanagh and Assemblymember Kelles, S1239F takes aim at a decades-old federal loophole by requiring food companies to report to New York regulators any food ingredients they designate in-house as "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) and decline to disclose to the FDA, along with the scientific basis for considering them safe. The bill also bans the use of Red No. 3, potassium bromate, and propylparaben in foods sold in New York. HHS Secretary Kennedy Jr. and former FDA Commissioner Dr. Kessler recently affirmed that food giants have hijacked the GRAS loophole to introduce harmful chemicals into the nation's food supply.