The sneaky way companies get new chemicals into our food
5/29/202636 min
99% of chemicals in our food right now were added without FDA approval. Many were added in secret, through a sneaky loophole built into the 1958 Food Additives Amendment.
It was supposed to require FDA approval for new additives. But food companies and chemical makers found a workaround. And the FDA formally okayed the loophole in the 90s — in the process bringing attention to a loophole to the loophole.
The FDA has essentially admitted it doesn’t have the capacity to verify the safety of new food chemicals. So they leave it up to food companies and chemical makers to declare their brand new chemicals are safe. These chemicals are used in everything from chocolate and smoked fish, to tea bags, protein drinks, popcorn, and seeds.
So, how’d the loophole get there, and what does it tell us about the priority the U.S. places on safety versus speed and innovation? And, how much can one lawyer do about it?
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This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez, produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Jess Jiang, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodrguez with help from Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSarah Gonzalez· Host0:00
[gentle music] On Consider This, NPR's afternoon news podcast, we cover everything from politics to the economy to the world, but every story starts with a question. At NPR, we stand for your right to be curious, to make sense of the biggest story of the day and what it means for you. Follow Consider This wherever you get your podcasts.
Carol Reedy· Guest0:22
[gentle music] This is Planet Money from NPR.
Sarah Gonzalez· Host0:27
If there's one way that Carol Reedy has always thought of herself, it's exuberant.
Carol Reedy· Guest0:35
Exuberant. Exuberant, yes. Even on my tired days, I'm exuberant.
Sarah Gonzalez· Host0:39
[laughs] Now, some people might call her annoying. Her word.
Carol Reedy· Guest0:43
Girl, they can't handle all this sometimes.
Sarah Gonzalez· Host0:45
But Carol doesn't mind.
Carol Reedy· Guest0:47
If it's not for you, just walk along. It's fine.
Sarah Gonzalez· Host0:49
[laughs] Recently, though, Carol and her friends have been describing her in a different way.
Carol Reedy· Guest0:54
Um, basically an orchid now.
Sarah Gonzalez· Host0:57
An orchid. Just, like, really fragile, you know?
Carol Reedy· Guest1:01
Very sensitive and very delicate, like, in all senses of the word.
Sarah Gonzalez· Host1:05
And she wasn't always this way.
Carol Reedy· Guest1:07
Before that, Sarah, I was killing it. I would go and do my research in Morocco. I was running around, doing everything, eating everything, literally.
Sarah Gonzalez· Host1:16
Carol is a linguistics professor at Oklahoma State University, originally from Nebraska, and when she moved to Oklahoma, that's about when things changed for her. She had just made this new friend, Lisa, and they decided to