Tell FDA to Fix Its Broken Food Additive Approval Process

Did you know that food and chemical companies can decide for themselves whether a chemical is safe for use in food?

FDA calls safe ingredients “GRAS,” which stands for Generally Recognized as Safe. Right now, mysterious new chemical “taste modifiers” can be added to foods and listed only as “artificial flavor.” A secretive trade organization funded by flavoring manufacturers can say that chemicals are “GRAS” even when there’s no evidence that the chemical is safe. And industry can decide that chemicals are safe—and start using them in your food—even if there’s evidence the chemicals might cause cancer.

Tell the FDA that it needs to STOP letting companies decide for themselves which chemicals are safe for use in food. It’s the FDA’s job to review the data and decide what’s safe. And FDA should make GRAS decisions mandatory and public, not voluntary and secret.