FDA reviewing food preservative BHA

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Tuesday that it is reviewing whether butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) is safe when used in food and as a food contact substance.

The FDA called the review part of its “broader efforts to proactively review chemical additives in the food supply.” The administration identified BHA as a top priority for review after launching a strengthened program to assess chemicals in the food supply last May.

BHA is used as an antioxidant and preservative in food — including butter, lard, meats, cereals and baked goods — food packaging, animal feed, cosmetics, rubber and petroleum products, according to the National Toxicology Program (NTP). The NTP notes that the additive is “reasonably anticipated to be a human cardinogen” based on animal studies.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. referenced the NTP’s assessment Tuesday. Animal studies have found a link between exposure to BHA, and benign and malignant tumors of the forestomach and liver cancer, but there is insufficient data to evaluate the relationship between human cancer and exposure to the compound.  

“This reassessment marks the end of the ‘trust us’ era in food safety,” Kennedy said in a statement. “If BHA cannot meet today’s gold-standard science for its current uses, we will remove it from the food supply and continue cleaning up food chemicals—starting where children face the greatest exposure.”

The FDA listed BHA as generally recognized as safe in 1958 and approved it as a food additive in 1961. But the FDA noted Tuesday that BHA was “recommended for re-assessment in several comments submitted to the public meeting docket” for its systematic process to assess chemicals in food that closed in January 2025.

Dr. Marty Makary, the commissioner of the FDA, said in the release that the agency will conduct “similar assessments” for food preservative butylated hydroxytoluene and azodicarbonamide, used in yoga mats and as a dough conditioner.

Last April, the FDA unveiled plans to phase out the use of petroleum-based food dyes in products. Kennedy said at the time that food companies are working with the government on an “understanding” to phase out the dyes and did not disclose any repercussions for companies that do not remove them from their products. 

The FDA also said last week it will not enforce federal regulations regarding “false or misleading” material on food labeling about artificial food dyes. That allows manufacturers to label their products as artificial food dye-free even if they contain such additives.