(a) In reaching a decision on any petition filed under section 409 of the Act, the Commissioner will give full consideration to the specific biological properties of the compound and the adequacy of the methods employed to demonstrate safety for the proposed use, and the Commissioner will be guided by the principles and procedures for establishing the safety of food additives stated in current publications of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council. A petition will not be denied, however, by reason of the petitioner's having followed procedures other than those outlined in the publications of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council if, from available evidence, the Commissioner finds that the procedures used give results as reliable as, or more reliable than, those reasonably to be expected from the use of the outlined procedures. In reaching a decision, the Commissioner will give due weight to the anticipated levels and patterns of consumption of the additive specified or reasonably inferrable. For the purposes of this section, the principles for evaluating safety of additives set forth in the abovementioned publications will apply to any substance that may properly be classified as a food additive as defined in section 201(s) of the Act.

(b) Upon written request describing the proposed use of an additive and the proposed experiments to determine its safety, the Commissioner will advise a person who wishes to establish the safety of a food additive whether he believes the experiments planned will yield data adequate for an evaluation of the safety of the additive.