Faux Food Part 2

If you read the first part of my article, Faux Food Part 1, you know that the intent of this series of articles is to attempt to answer the question, "why are there so many dangerous chemicals in our food?". I started with a discussion on the shortcomings of the Toxic Substances and Control Act (TSCA) of 1976, which grandfathered in over 60,000 known chemicals as approved with no actual approval process other than the fact that they were already in products we were consuming. The law also put the onus on the government and EPA to prove a new chemical coming to market was dangerous, and they have 90 days to do it. The focus will now shift to another outdated law, which is just as preposterous as the TSCA.

 

The Food Additives Amendment of 1958 provide the framework for how a chemical company brings a new ingredient to the food supply and it has the loop hole of loop holes, called GRAS or generally recognized as safe. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

 

There are two main paths to get a food additive into a processed food: premarket approval and GRAS. Let's start with premarket approval by the FDA. This is required if the additive is not considered GRAS. A company must submit an application, and here's the kicker, it comes complete with all of the company's research conducted on the supposed safety of the ingredient and why it should be allowed in the food supply. The FDA then reviews that information and typically signs off on the approval. How much weight would you put on your child's report card if he or she was allowed to grade his or her own papers and tests? This doesn't make any sense. And unfortunately, this is by far the more stringent path a company can take to get its chemical approved for use in our food.

 

The second path, GRAS, is even worse. GRAS means that a substance added to food is considered safe by experts, and so is exempted from the usual FDA food additive application process discussed above. Guess who determines if an additive is GRAS? That's right, the company who is selling the ingredient. As mindblowingly-disturbing as that is, it's only part of the story. The chemical company doesn't even have to report the newly-dubbed GRAS ingredient to the FDA- there is only a voluntary notification program. Say what? You read it correctly. The FDA doesn't know what these companies are self approving and putting into the food supply. The FDA has virtually no authority over any part of this process.

 

Even more nonsensical is once a company determines a food ingredient is safe, it "may market the substance, even if the FDA finds that the notice does not provide a sufficient basis for a GRAS", according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which has been advocating for a significant overhaul of this process for many years.

 

So let's summarize what we've learned so far. If a chemical company chooses to go the first route, premarket approval, it provides its own research as to the safety of the product. The FDA then reads this likely-biased research and approves the additive. If a company goes the second route, they stamp their own approval on their new additive, don't have to tell the FDA, and even if the FDA becomes aware of the ingredient and determines it is not safe, the company does not have to stop selling it. Are you comfortable with that? I assure you that I am not. This process needs to be scrapped and quickly. It is unbelievable to me that this process has been in place for literally decades.

Please stay tuned for the final part of this series- Part 3.   

 

BIO: I am a researcher and the author of They Put That In My Food? (theyputthatinmyfood.com). My aim is to increase awareness surrounding the dangerous chemicals and additives in our food supply in order to help others eat a healthier and cleaner diet.