The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today launched a comprehensive re-assessment of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), a chemical preservative used in food.
The review will consider whether BHA is safe under its current conditions of use in food and as a food contact substance, based on the latest scientific information. As part of this re-assessment, the agency issued a Request for Information on the use and safety of BHA.
This is part of the FDA’s broader efforts to proactively review chemical additives in the food supply. In May 2025, the FDA launched a strengthened program to review chemicals currently in the food supply.
The FDA identified BHA as a top priority for review. The FDA’s post-market assessment of BHA used in food is one of several ongoing post-market assessments under the agency's enhanced systematic process for scrutinizing chemicals in our food supply.
“BHA has remained in the food supply for decades despite being identified by the National Toxicology Program as ‘reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen’ based on animal studies,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
FDA News Releases published a clinical update in Research Highlights on 10 Feb 2026.
The item focuses on FDA Launches Assessment of BHA, a Common Food Chemical Preservative.
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