21 C.F.R. § 582.1 Substances that are generally recognized as safe.
(a) It is impracticable to list all substances that are generally recognized as safe for their intended use. However, by way of illustration, the Commissioner regards such common food ingredients as salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar, baking powder, and monosodium glutamate as safe for their intended use. The lists in subparts B through H of this part include additional substances that, when used for the purposes indicated, in accordance with good manufacturing or feeding practice, are regarded by the Commissioner as generally recognized as safe for such uses.
(b) For the purposes of this section, good manufacturing or feeding practice shall be defined to include the following restrictions:
(1) The quantity of a substance added to animal food does not exceed the amount reasonably required to accomplish its intended physical, nutritional, or other technical effect in food; and
(2) The quantity of a substance that becomes a component of animal food as a result of its use in the manufacturing, processing, or packaging of food, and which is not intended to accomplish any physical or other technical effect in the food itself, shall be reduced to the extent reasonably possible.
(3) The substance is of appropriate grade and is prepared and handled as a food ingredient. Upon request the Commissioner will offer an opinion, based on specifications and intended use, as to whether or not a particular grade or lot of the substance is of suitable purity for use in food and would generally be regarded as safe for the purpose intended, by experts qualified to evaluate its safety.
(c) The inclusion of substances in the list of nutrients does not constitute a finding on the part of the Department that the substance is useful as a supplement to the diet for animals.
(d) Substances that are generally recognized as safe for their intended use within the meaning of section 409 of the Act are listed in subparts B through H of this part. When the status of a substance has been reevaluated and affirmed as GRAS or deleted from subparts B through H of this part, an appropriate explanation will be noted, e.g., “affirmed as GRAS,” “food additive regulation,” “interim food additive regulation,” or “prohibited from use in food,” with a reference to the appropriate new regulation. Such notation will apply only to the specific use covered by the review, e.g., direct animal food use and/or indirect animal food use and/or animal feed use and will not affect its status for other uses not specified in the referenced regulation, pending a specific review of such other uses.