Schakowsky Introduces Further Legislation to Ensure Our Food is Safe
WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), a Chief Deputy Whip and Ranking Member of the Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the Agricultural Food Chemical Reassessment Act, whichrequires the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reassess seven chemicals used in meat, dairy, and egg products.
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture is responsible for ensuring that our meat, poultry, and egg products are safe for consumption, yet many chemicals often found in these foods can be traced to adverse health effects like cancer, hormone disruption, and more,” said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. “That is why I am introducing the Agricultural Food Chemical Reassessment Act to require the USDA to reassess seven harmful chemicals in our foods. As a longtime champion for food safety, it is imperative that we continue to make progress on food chemical safety across agencies. Consumers deserve to know that the foods they are eating are safe and free from harmful chemicals.”
"Other countries regularly review the safety of chemicals used in food and food processing to reflect new science," said Scott Faber, EWG's senior vice president for government affairs. "And the USDA periodically reviews other chemical safety standards, including those for pesticides. But these food chemicals have fallen into a regulatory black hole. This legislation will ensure the USDA takes much needed action to get these harmful chemicals out of our meat and dairy."
Specifically, the Agricultural Food Chemical Reassessment Act would require FSIS to determine whether a set of 7 substances used in meat, poultry, and egg products are fit for human consumption and initiate rulemaking for each determination. The 7 substances are the following:
- Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA)
- Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)
- Cetylpyridinium chloride
- Sodium aluminum phosphate
- Sodium nitrite
- Sulfuric acid
- Titanium dioxde
These chemicals have been linked to adverse health effects such as cancer, hormone disruption, reproductive toxicity and more. Some of these chemicals are also banned or heavily restricted in the EU and have been listed as cancerous by California’s Proposition 65 (requires businesses to warn consumers of chemicals that cause significant harm).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees the safety of most foods, but FSIS oversees the safety of most meat, poultry, and egg products. The chemicals in this bill have either never been reviewed by the FDA or were reviewed decades ago and have therefore entered our supply through the GRAS loophole.
The Agricultural Food Chemical Reassessment Act is cosponsored by Reps. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03).
Last year, Reps. Schakowsky and DeLauro reintroduced the Food Chemical Reassessment Act of 2023, which would create an Office of Food Safety Assessment within the FDA to ensure that chemicals that have entered the food supply chain through loopholes or that were reviewed by the FDA decades ago are safe to eat.
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