NaturalNews) New research published in the journal, JAMA Internal Medicine,
has verified that the vast majority of the 10,000-or-so chemical
additives currently allowed in food are backed only by industry-funded
and supported safety assessments. And a large percentage of these have
never even been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
for review, which means the general population is essentially being
used as a collective guinea pig in a giant food additive safety
experiment.
Between 1997 and 2012, the FDA reportedly received
451 voluntary notifications about new food additives, 100 percent of
which came from individuals and groups connected in one way or another
to the food industry. Rather than be accompanied by independent safety
research, every single one of these new additives came with "safety
data" conjured by the companies that produce them, a serious conflict of
interest that apparently has become the standard rather than the
exception.
Researchers from The Pew Charitable Trusts (PCT), a
non-profit organization serving the public interest, decided to review
data on the new food additive notification process after the Government
Accountability Office (GAO), a federal watchdog agency, issued a report
back in 2010 raising concerns about it. And what they found is
astounding, particularly as it pertains to public health and safety.
Building
upon a previous study they conducted of a similar nature, Thomas
Neltner and his colleagues determined that roughly 43 percent of the
10,000 additives currently allowed in food
are on the FDA's GRAS list, which means they are "generally recognized
as safe." The other 57 percent, according to the data, were approved
through other means, or never submitted or approved at all. And
practically all of them lack independent analysis to verify their
safety.
"Rules governing the chemicals that go into a tennis
racket are more stringent than (rules for) the chemicals that go into
our food," said Neltner regarding the findings. "At least when you put a
new chemical on the market, you have to notify the EPA (Environmental
Protection Agency). But there's no requirement that you notify the FDA
when you make a new food additive."
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