By: Haroon Yonis
The FDA is a federal organization that focuses on food safety and health. It regulates our foods/drugs and makes sure what we consume doesn’t harm us.
As US citizens, we are right to assume this organization will do their best to prevent harm from coming to us through seemingly harmless foods.
Yet, there are many controversies surrounding the FDA and its peculiar leniency in banning cancer causing agents; ingredients that have been banned in the EU, and practically every country in the world, yet the FDA continues to delay banning these harmful ingredients, many of which have been proven to cause cancer and many other terrible diseases.
A great example of this, is the group of food dyes commonly found in many household foods: Yellow 6, Yellow 5, and Red 40.
These food dyes have been scientifically proven to cause cancer. The specific cancer causing chemicals in these foods are: 4-aminobiphenyl, 4-aminoazobenzene, and benzidine.
Not only do these food dyes cause cancer, they also cause vomiting and an uncontrollable itch when they are given to certain individuals. Also, young adolescents are more susceptible to these conditions when consuming the dye.
These dyes wouldn’t be an issue if they weren’t prevalent in popular and household foods such as Froot Loops, Doritos, and Jello.
Millions eat these foods every year, and the FDA continues to claim the chemicals in these dyes are safe. Yellow 5, 6, and Red 40, have been banned in the United Kingdom, France, and many other countries. The dye is even illegal in countries such as Norway and Finland.
This is only a single example of the FDA’s failure at keeping US citizens safe. There are thousands of other chemicals that are still allowed in the US, despite the obvious risks and effects associated with them.
Now, the questions that arises are:
- Why does the FDA continue to allow such foods to be sold in the market, when their sole purpose is to regulate these foods?
- And: How can we as a country prevent these foods from reaching our children and communities?
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