Comment from Larry Yanez

I am writing in support of Dr. David A. Kessler’s citizen petition requesting a reassessment of certain industrially refined carbohydrate ingredients under the FDA’s GRAS framework. My support is based on personal health experience and the difficulty of managing exposure to these ingredients in the modern food environment. In my own life, I have consistently found that foods built around highly refined carbohydrates such as corn syrups, maltodextrins, and refined starches are much harder to moderate than meals made from intact, minimally processed foods. When I consume these products, I experience faster hunger rebound, stronger cravings, and less stable energy. This does not feel like a willpower issue, but rather a predictable physiological response to how these foods are formulated and processed. What makes this especially challenging is how pervasive these ingredients have become. They appear across a wide range of packaged foods, often under multiple names, and are heavily used in products marketed as convenient or even “better-for-you.” For consumers, especially families and children who rely on packaged foods, it is not realistic to meaningfully manage cumulative exposure. This petition is not a call to ban carbohydrates or restrict traditional foods. It is a reasonable request for the FDA to reexamine whether these industrially refined carbohydrate ingredients should continue to receive GRAS status under current conditions of use. At a minimum, this issue deserves a transparent, evidence-based scientific review that reflects real-world consumption patterns, cumulative exposure, and the prevalence of these ingredients in child-directed products. I appreciate the opportunity to submit this comment and urge the FDA to take this petition seriously in light of today’s food supply and its impact on public health.