American foods stay good longer, but is it worth it? by MikaelaConley
In the U.S., bread is whiter, cakes and cookies are brighter, and grocery food typically has a longer shelf life than in Europe. That’s the result of the more than 10,000 chemicals allowed to be used in the growing, making and preserving of foods and beverages in the U.S. — including some that are banned in Europe because of their links to myriad health risks, including cancers, neurological disorders and behavioral issues in children.
The European Commission is known to take a more cautious approach to its food chemical safety analysis. When requesting the use of a new food chemical, a manufacturer must submit an application identifying the additive, its manufacturing process and methods of analyses, its chemical reaction with food, its purpose and proposed uses.
“The great majority of the additives purposely added in food in the U.S., when tested, are tested in adult animals,” which means that developmental effects in fetuses or in children are not considered in testing, said Maffini. “In a study we published in 2013, we found that only 6.7 percent have reproductive or developmental data in FDA’s database, and overall only 21.6 percent have feeding studies needed to estimate a safe level of exposure in the population.
According to the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the majority of Americans exceed the recommendations for added sugars, saturated fats and sodium, and three-quarters of Americans have an eating pattern that is too low in vegetables, fruits, dairy and healthy oils. The amount of processed foods, and thus food additives and preservatives, consumed tends to be greater in the U.S. than in other developed nations.
Lefferts summed up American food regulations bluntly: “The U.S. system for ensuring the [understanding and] safety of substances added to food is broken.” AzodicarbonamideAnother chemical used in mass-produced breads, cereals and doughs is azodicarbonamide, also known as the “yoga mat chemical” because it is often also found in foamed plastics, like mats and the soles of shoes. It is a whitening agent that has been banned in the EU since 2005, and in other areas, including Australia and Singapore.
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