Grocery shoppers examining colorful packages bearing long lists
of hard-to-pronounce ingredients might take comfort in the
belief that those substances were deemed safe by the government.
They might also believe that some federal agency must, at least,
be notified when a new substance enters the U.S. food supply.
But that's not the case. Over the past 15 years, the vast
majority of new ingredients added to U.S. food never received a
safety determination from the government. And since 1958, at
least 1,000 legally entered the food supply without the
knowledge of government officials, according to the Pew Health
Group. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration acknowledges that
since 1997, it has largely transferred the responsibilities for
pre-market safety determinations on ingredients — including
flavorings, preservatives, texturizers and binders — from its
own scientists to food manufacturers. The agency characterizes
the move as a "pragmatic means to protect health and avoid
wasteful use of government and indus