Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)

Designation by the FDA that a chemical or substance (including certain pesticides) added to food is considered safe by experts, and so is exempted from the usual FFDCA food additive tolerance requirements.

A regulatory category created for a group of food additives that were exempted from the more rigorous regulatory requirements for food additives in the 1958 Food Additives Amendment to the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act of 1938. A substance was accorded GRAS status, if it was generally recognized by experts qualified by scientific training and experience to evaluate its safety, as having been adequately shown through scientific procedures or experience based on common use in food to be safe under the conditions of its intended use.