For decades, the U.S. regulators have lagged behind other countries in banning dangerous chemicals.
Last week, the California Assembly’s Health Committee approved a bill to ban five harmful chemicals from candy, cereals, and other processed food. If passed, California would be the first state to regulate food additives.
The bill would end the use of brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propyl paraben, Red Dye No. 3, and titanium dioxide in food products sold in the state. The chemicals are linked to health problems such as a higher risk of cancer, nervous system damage, and hyperactivity.
European regulators have banned use of the five substances in food, with the exception of Red No. 3 in candied cherries.
Due to California’s large economy, the bill would set a precedent for improving the safety of many processed foods.
If passed, the bill won’t pull Skittles or other products off the shelf, said Jesse Gabriel, author of the bill and chair of the Assembly’s Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee.
“The idea here is for these companies to make minor modifications to their recipes so that these products no longer include dangerous and toxic chemicals,” Gabriel said.
He said Skittles and many other brands have already made changes to their recipes in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and other countries where these chemicals are banned.
“While the chemical companies might want you to believe we’re going too far with this bill, we are in fact many steps behind the rest of the world,” Gabriel said. “We simply want our kids to have the same protection.”
The bill is now before the Assembly’s Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee.
More than 10,000 chemicals are allowed for use in food sold in the United States. Nearly 99 percent of those introduced since 2000 were approved by the food and chemical industry, not the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“Despite the serious and well-documented risks posed to our health by these five food chemicals, the FDA has failed to take action to protect the public,” Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, said in a statement.
“The committee’s vote is an important first step by California lawmakers to remove these harmful chemicals from candies, cookies and other processed food,” Ronholm said. “At a time when the FDA’s weak oversight has prevented it from taking action, it is critical for states like California to ensure consumers are protected from these toxic food chemicals.”
Children have lower tolerance levels than adults to chemical exposure, and their developing bodies make them more vulnerable, said Susan Little, senior advocate for California government affairs for the Environmental Working Group, an environmental organization.
“It makes no sense that the same products food manufacturers sell in California are sold in the EU but without these toxic chemicals,” Little said.
Additives aren’t adequately regulated by the FDA, due in large part to the lack of financial support from Congress for food chemical review, said Scott Faber, the EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs.
In addition, the chemical companies keep exploiting a loophole that allows for food additives that haven’t been adequately reviewed for safety by the FDA, said Faber.
Let’s hope this bill passes to ensure better health for kids and adults.
