The Grocery Manufacturers Association, a trade group for foodmakers, “will give the Food and Drug Administration access to a large database of safety information for chemicals used in processed foods, from Twinkies to almond milk,” says Politico. It quotes an health scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council as saying, “It’s certainly a step forward.” The Washington Post described on Aug 17 how a streamlining of the approval process in 19987 had resulted in food companies sharing less information with the FDA about how they determined that additives were safe for use in food.
“A voluntary certification system has nearly replaced one that relied on a more formal, time-consuming review” by FDA, said the Post.
Politico said GMA “believes it’s the right time for the food industry to rethink how it approaches food chemicals in part because the entire food safety system is being redesigned under the Food Safety Modernization Act, a bipartisan law passed in late 2010 that aims to prevent foodborne illness outbreaks. Consumer concerns — increasingly amplified on social media and through petition platforms like Change.org — have also reached a fever pitch.”