Since the late 1950s it has been possible for US food companies to avoid the safety testing and pre-approval of food additives if the additives were “shown through scientific procedures … to be safe under the conditions of its intended use”, also known as the General Recognised as Safe (GRAS) loophole.
Allowed in the US, banned in the EU
Today an estimated 1,000+ food chemicals have been deemed GRAS and are used in foods without FDA notification. As a result, several substances permitted in the US are banned under the stricter EU food regulation, including titanium dioxide (E171), brominated vegetable oil (BVO) (E443), potassium bromate (E924), azodicarbonamide (E927a) and propylparaben (E217). Some of the substances allowed cause cancer or impact human reproductive or developmental toxicity.
The US legislation now requires the FDA to close the GRAS loophole, implement safety evaluations and a mandatory premarket FDA notification of chemical food additives.
For more information about legislation on food additives, please contact:
Helle Buchardt Boyd
hbb@dhigroup.com
Tel +45 4516 9097
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