Kava FDA news December 2025?

Hey Kava experts,

I've been hearing about health departments giving kava bars a hard time and shutting them down in different parts of the country. I'm trying to open one myself and have encountered some of the same pushback. Then, I saw some articles come out saying the FDA had recently clarified its position and declared Kava a food. Here is one such article talking about this:

https://www.usatoday.com/press-release/story/22443/fda-officially-confirms-kava-is-a-food-under-federal-law/

A few days later, I heard the article was not trustworthy by someone in the kava scene. I know there are some connected people here, and I'm hoping to find someone who can:

1. Bring some clarity to this with authority, and,
2. Help with finding the language that will clear this up for health departments and make it easier to open a Kava bar.