New York's Proposed GRAS Bill Would Hurt Families and Businesses — Here's What You Need to Know

New Yorkers are already navigating one of the highest costs of living in the country. Grocery bills are up. Rents are up. Utility costs keep climbing. The last thing families and businesses across the state need right now is a new government mandate that makes things more expensive and complicated — but that's exactly what the proposed GRAS bill would do.

What Is the GRAS Bill?

"GRAS" stands for Generally Recognized as Safe — a federal standard used to evaluate the safety of food and beverage ingredients. The United States already has a rigorous, science-based system at the federal level to oversee ingredient safety, backed by specialized expertise and decades of established process.

New York State lawmakers are now proposing to create their own separate GRAS review system — a new state-level bureaucracy that would sit on top of existing federal requirements. Rather than working within a proven national framework, this bill would force food, beverage, and consumer goods companies to navigate an entirely new layer of compliance just to keep their products on shelves in New York.

Why This Bill Would Hurt New Yorkers

The food and beverage industry is proud to produce and distribute products that have undergone rigorous scientific review. New York's proposed GRAS bill doesn't make those products safer — it just makes them more expensive to sell here.

Companies operating in the state would face new costs tied to legal review, additional paperwork, redundant testing, and packaging changes required solely to comply with a New York-only mandate. Those costs don't disappear — they get passed down to consumers in the form of higher prices at the grocery store.

Beyond cost, this bill could also reduce the variety of products available to New Yorkers. If the compliance burden becomes too steep, some companies may simply choose not to sell certain products in the state at all. Families would be left with fewer options and more confusion about what they can trust.

A Bureaucracy Without the Expertise to Back It Up

One of the most troubling aspects of this proposal is that New York State isn't equipped to handle GRAS review comprehensively. This kind of work requires highly specialized scientific expertise — the kind that exists at the federal level precisely because it takes significant resources to do it right.

Rushing this process at the state level, without that foundation in place, risks poor decision-making and unintended consequences. A New York-only GRAS system won't just be duplicative — it could create genuine confusion for families trying to understand what's safe and real headaches for the businesses that employ people across the state.

What We're Asking For

Lawmakers should be focused on lowering costs and supporting the families, local businesses, and workers that make New York's economy run. This GRAS bill does the opposite — it adds bureaucratic complexity, raises grocery prices, and creates uncertainty for an industry that is already doing its job safely and responsibly under federal oversight.

Your voice matters. Food, beverage, and consumer goods organizations across New York State can make a difference by letting lawmakers know where the industry stands on this issue.

Add your organization's name to the letter urging legislators to reject this costly and confusing GRAS legislation — before it's too late.

Sign the Letter Now

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*Brought to you by Americans for Food and Beverage Choice. Paid for by the American Beverage Association.*