The FDA may allow some toxic chemicals in food without a safety review. Experts are alarmed
Tom Perkins — The Guardian
Regulator looks to expand loophole to allow dangerous compounds in food as long as they’re not carcinogenic
(But no vaccinations allowed).
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to expand a controversial loophole that lets some of the world’s most toxic chemicals be added directly to food without a safety review.
(But no vaccinations allowed.)
The “threshold of regulation” (TOR) exemption currently allows dangerous compounds to be used without review in food contact materials, such as packaging or processing equipment, if they are not carcinogenic and are added at levels below 0.5 parts per billion (ppb).
But campaigners say many chemicals, especially hormone disruptors linked to brain damage and reproductive harm in children, are considered dangerous at levels far below 0.5ppb.
Even in its limited form, the loophole has already raised alarm. One TOR exemption that allows the rocket fuel chemical perchlorate to be used in grain bags dramatically increased the amount of the compound found in kids’ cereal, which advocates say could cause brain damage.
(But no vaccinations allowed)
The new proposed TOR expansion would allow companies to use the chemicals as an ingredient added directly to food, as flavorings, preservatives, emulsifiers, processing aids, enzymes, stabilizers and binders, and for myriad other uses, in ultra-processing.
The revelation comes after Robert F Kennedy Jr and the FDA claimed victory and declared “promises kept” in August for “closing” a different controversial regulatory loophole called “generally regarded as safe” (Gras), which over the decades was used to send ingredients to the market that campaigners said could sicken, injure or kill people.
(But no vaccinations allowed)
But Kennedy and the FDA did not mention in their public relations material that the proposed Gras rule submitted quietly to the Federal Register includes the TOR expansion, which public health advocates warn will also send alarming levels of toxic chemicals to grocery store shelves. Some advocates have accused Kennedy of deception.
(But no vaccinations allowed)
Whew! Thank goodness our kids will not be subject to disease-preventing vaccinations. We’d much rather they ingest “the world’s most toxic chemicals” that are “linked to brain damage and reproductive harm in children.”
Thank you, Republican Party, for protecting our children.
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
