How the FDA's approval for food additives works, and why experts say a loophole allows companies to bypass it
Experts say that for decades, a legal loophole has allowed companies to include chemical additives that could be potentially dangerous to consumers' health.
JimMin
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates food and health-related products to ensure they're safe for public health. Today, it's estimated to oversee 80% of the U.S. food supply.
This also places ingredient safety regulations under the FDA's authority. According to a 1958 law, companies looking to introduce a new food additive into the food supply are supposed to file a petition with the FDA, triggering a lengthy process of scientific investigation and public comment.
However, experts say a legal loophole has allowed companies to bypass this process entirely.
"We know from prior research that over span of decades, thousands of ingredients are added to the food supply without the FDA even knowing about it," according to Jennifer Pomeranz, an associate professor of public health and policy and management at New York University. "It's impossible to quantify because we don't actually know which ingredients are added."
"What we have seen over time is that companies are creating new ingredients, having their own scientists or hiring a small group of outside scientists to make their own determination that an ingredient is safe," said Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group. "Once they self-declare that their ingredient is safe, they don't have to go through that pre-market process."
More than 750 new food additives have been introduced into the food supply through this loophole by the food and chemical industry between 2000 and 2021, according to research by EWG.
However, supporters of the food additive industry argue that all ingredients are tested with the same rigor as additives that go through the pre-market approval process.
"Both process require the exact same requirements," argued Carla Saunders, executive director at the International Food Additives Council. "There's a plethora of scientific evidence needed to ensure that those ingredients are safe, reliable, and effective."
Watch the video above to find out why the FDA allows so many chemicals in America's food supply.
