(The Center Square) – Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias continues his push to restrict various additives in foods.
On Monday, Giannoulias joined various groups to speak about an upcoming Food and Drug Administration hearing about concerns over food additives.
“The food we eat and the beverages we drink often contain chemicals used as food additives linked to not only health issues in adults but to developmental cognitive and other major health concerns in infants and children,” Giannoulias said.
Thomas Galligan with the Center for Science in the Public Interest said the upcoming FDA hearing could show the agency is taking a step in the right direction, but worried about potential loopholes in protecting the food supply from dangerous chemicals.
“Companies are making safety decisions in secret and FDA cannot ensure the safety of our food supply if it does not know what is in our food,” Galligan said.
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, Thomas Galligan with the Center for Science in the Public Interest and Melanie Benesh with the Environmental Working Group during a news conference Monday.
Giannoulias said the FDA knew for decades that brominated vegetable oil would be harmful if allowed to remain in use.
“But it was allowed to remain in use at the request of food manufacturers,” Giannoulias said. “It took the agency more than 50 years after it learned of its health concerns before it was finally banned earlier this year.”
Melanie Benesh with the Environmental Working Group said it’s taking the FDA too long to address other dangerous chemicals.
“For example, the FDA determined that Red Dye 3 is a carcinogen all the way back in 1990 and promised at that time to restrict it in food. But 34 years later it remains legal,” she said.
Giannoulias has advocated for an Illinois law to prohibit the use of certain chemical food additives, but the measure has yet to advance.
The Illinois Manufacturers Association has gone on record that the well-intentioned legislation would set a dangerous precedent by usurping the role of scientists and experts at the FDA.
The FDA will hold a public meeting Wednesday. It’s expected the agency will discuss development of a systematic process for conducting post-market assessments of food chemicals.
