Federal health officials said Tuesday they will reassess the safety of a chemical called BHA used in foods including potato chips, cereals, frozen meals and meat products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a new request for information regarding butylated hydroxyanisole, a preservative. The agency’s review “will consider whether BHA is safe under its current conditions of use in food and as a food contact substance,” a statement said. The move is part of a wider effort by the FDA to review chemical additives in the U.S. food supply. In May, the agency identified BHA as a top priority for review. “We are taking decisive action to ensure that chemicals in our food supply are not causing harm,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in a statement. The agency first listed BHA as “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, in 1958 and approved it as a food additive in 1961. Since 1991, however, BHA has been classified as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” by the National Toxicology Program. Health advocacy groups such as …