The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is hosting a free webinar which will break down criteria to determine if an ingredient falls under the regulatory designation of Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS).
 
The webinar, which is open to the public, will be held on Friday, March 1^st from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. CDT.
 
According to the regulatory framework surrounding food and dietary supplement ingredients, GRAS is a designation applied to ingredients which are generally recognized as safe by qualified experts.
 
The upcoming webinar will provide details in the pathway of determining whether an ingredient is GRAS and will equip food and beverage professionals with skills to navigate the process. The webinar, “Decoding GRAS: Regulatory Understanding in the New Product Development Process,” serves as a preview to a short course of a similar name which will be hosted at this year’s IFT First conference. Participants of the course will earn a course certificate and gain access to resources on GRAS ingredient determinations.
 
“Understanding the complexities around GRAS ingredients is essential in the product development process,” said Bryan Hitchcock, chief science and technology officer at IFT. “The upcoming webinar, as well as the Short Course at this year’s IFT FIRST, will provide indispensable knowledge that food and beverage professionals can use to strategically tackle this consequential step in the product development journey.”
 
The webinar will feature Steven Gendel, PhD, a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official with expertise on food safety, assessing new food products, and food policy and regulation. Gendel has over two decades of experience advancing science and policy at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. As FDA’s first food allergen coordinator, he contributed to the creation of agency policies, guidance documents, and regulations.
 
In addition to the webinar and IFT First short course, IFT will also host a members-only webinar that covers FDA’s food ingredient regulatory programs, including regulations around GRAS ingredients.
 
This webinar, An Introduction to FDA’s Food Ingredient Regulatory Programs” will feature Katie Overbey, PhD, MS, who serves as a regulatory review specialist at the FDA. Attendees will gain essential knowledge around regulatory pathways from Overbey and gain access to resources that can aid them in the process of identifying the regulatory status of ingredients. This exclusive event will be held Tuesday, April 2, 2024, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. CDT.