A movement to ban certain food and drink additives that began in California last year and first spread to Illinois this year has now reached the Empire State.
Two New York state legislators have introduced a companion bill to protect consumers from known and unknown dangerous additives in food and beverages.
of First bill, A6424A/S6055Bhas added seven dangerous and hazardous substances to food and beverages sold in New York State: azodicarbonamide, brominated vegetable oil (BVO), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), potassium bromate, propylparaben, Red 3, and titanium dioxide. The use of necessary additives will be prohibited.
All except BHA are prohibited in the European Union. Last year, California enacted a law that would eliminate BVO, potassium bromate, propylparaben, and Red 3 from food and beverages sold in the state by 2027.
New York’s ban is scheduled to take effect two years early, in 2025.
of Second invoice, S08615/A9295companies will be required to disclose to New York State if they secretly add chemicals of their own discretion to food or beverages. “Generally Recognized as Safe” or GRASwithout notifying the FDA.
Although the FDA approves a small number of novel food chemicals, the majority of chemicals that companies have voluntarily determined to be GRAS do not require premarket approval, notification, or safety review. . These GRAS decisions may now be carried out in secret by people paid by companies without notifying the FDA or the public.
Both bills are sponsored by Senator Brian Kavanaugh and Representative Anna Keres, who has a PhD in nutritional epidemiology.
Support for the two bills comes from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Interfaith Public Health Network, the NYS American Academy of Pediatrics, Clean + Healthy, Consumer Reports, the Environmental Task Force, and others, and the bills fill the gap left by the government. It is said that it is a thing. F.D.A.
The FDA banned the synthetic dye Red 3 from cosmetics and topical drugs in the 1990s after learning that it caused cancer when eaten by laboratory animals. However, its use in food and oral medicines is still permitted.
“New Yorkers deserve the highest level of protection when it comes to the safety of the food we eat,” said Senator Kavanaugh. “While state law has long included the power to regulate what’s in our food, New York State has typically left it to the federal government. These seven things pose serious health risks. No such respect is guaranteed when it comes to additives, and food companies should not abide by the secrets of the federal process for new chemicals they add to food without publication or review by the FDA. It will ensure safety and enable public oversight of food chemical safety.”
“For too long, the FDA has failed to take steps to protect consumers from toxic chemicals in their food,” said Rep. Keres. “I am proud to sponsor legislation that would ban seven of these additives that are associated with serious adverse health effects, including DNA damage, heart and thyroid toxicity, and reproductive harm. We also must close loopholes that allow food and chemical companies to irresponsibly circumvent FDA approval of new food additives. My bill would notify New York State of GRAS decisions that have not been reviewed by the FDA. By requiring industry to do so, it removes the secrecy of GRAS.”
Like California’s ban on four food additives, New York’s ban on seven dangerous food additives will have repercussions far beyond state borders. Food manufacturers that comply with the bill could implement this change nationwide. Such a bill could also encourage FDA officials to catch up with states and eliminate the use of chemicals in food nationwide.
According to CSPI, a second bill in New York state requiring disclosure of chemicals not disclosed to the FDA will also have an impact nationwide.
“These bills would introduce the most significant reforms to the U.S. food chemical review process in decades,” said Jensen Jose, CSPI Regulatory Counsel. “Not only can New York State ban harmful additives, but it can also shed new light on chemical safety decisions currently made by the food industry in secret by making them accessible to everyone. I can guess.”
“These two bills will increase transparency and protect consumers from toxic chemicals in New York’s food supply,” said Jessica Hernandez, policy director for the Environmental Working Group. “Absent federal action, it is up to states like New York to protect us from harmful additives in the foods we eat and feed our families.”
“The FDA’s system for ensuring the safety of food additives is broken,” said Brian Ronholm, director of food safety at Consumer Reports. “For too long, the FDA has been blind to the latest research documenting that some chemicals allowed in food pose unacceptable risks to our health. These bills… , protects the public and closes regulatory gaps by banning certain harmful food additives and requiring greater transparency from manufacturers when introducing new chemicals into food without FDA review. It helps.”
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