There is no government oversight of food additives safety. The foods for sale at the supermarket may contain any of 3,000 “additives” -- often chemical colorings, preservatives, antioxidants, stabilizers, gelling agents, thickeners and so on -- have presumably been “approved” by authorities tasked with protecting the health of consumers. At least, that’s what people are led to believe. In fact, in the United States these additives are broadly approved by the industry that profits from their sale -- not independent people charged with protecting public health, at least according to a recent study conducted by Journal of the American Medical Association. When foods are submitted to the FDA for approval, they’re accompanied by evidence provided by the manufacturer that the substance is safe. There is no independent body testing those claims, or looking at the possibility that they’re unsafe. FDA panels review the information provided by the additive maker, and either ask questions or simply approve it based on the claims of the manufacturer. Most are simply approved without question. The study found that “an astonishing 100% of the members of 290 expert panels included in [FDA] review worked directly or indirectly for the companies that manufactured the additive in question.” In other words, the entire additives review process is a charade -- approval theater, if you will. The company wishing to profit from an additive ingredient tests it for safety, makes their case to a panel made up of people who will also profit from the sale of that ingredient, then the additive is inevitably approved without any oversight, second opinion, independent testing or anything. The study also determined that about one thousand additives are in the food supply without any FDA knowledge or review. Food Politics blogger Marion Nestle summarized the problem nicely: "Manufacturers get to decide whether food additives are safe or not. Manufacturers get to decide whether to bother to tell the FDA the additives are in the food supply. And if they do volunteer to inform the FDA (and many do), manufacturers get to decide who sits on the panels that review the evidence for safety." The bottom line for food consumers is that industrial food giants can and do put just about any chemicals or other additives into your food, and there is no government monitoring, testing or oversight. archinte.jamanetwork/article.aspx?articleid=1725123 foodpolitics/2013/08/you-think-the-fda-gets-to-approve-all-food-additives-as-safe-not-a-chance/ reuters/article/2013/08/07/us-influence-food-additive-idUSBRE9760MZ20130807 #industrialfood click-to-read-mo.re/p/2Rsd
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 13:41:50 +0000
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