by Anahad O’Connor at The Washington Post
A legal loophole allows companies to add new chemical additives into your food without approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The health consequences can be dire.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the nation’s top health post, has vowed to “get the chemicals out” of America’s food amid mounting concerns over the health effects of additives.
These chemical ingredients — designed to enhance the flavors, textures, colors and shelf life of ultra-processed foods — are in many of the foods that Americans eat. But who determines whether they are safe?
In many cases, it’s not the Food and Drug Administration that decides if chemical additives are safe to use in food. Instead, it’s the companies that make and sell the products that contain them.
Research shows that a regulatory loophole has allowed for America’s food to be saturated in largely unapproved additives. The health consequences can be dire. In one case two years ago, a toxic food additive known as tara flour that was allowed into the food supply through this loophole was blamed for sickening hundreds of people and sending at least 130 to the hospital.
Now, a growing number of politicians and lawmakers are…
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