California is about to become the first state in the U.S. to ban five ingredients found in popular candies and other processed foods.
In Europe, The European Union has banned most of these ingredients and more for years, but sadly the FDA does nothing to stem the tide of dangerous ingredients added into our food, risking the health of this nation every day that they don't rescind approval of these chemicals.
The California bill would end the use of brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propyl paraben, Red Dye 3 and titanium dioxide in popular food products sold in the state.
These chemical "ingredients" are linked to serious health problems, such as a higher risk of cancer, nervous system damage and hyperactivity.
Potassium bromate is commonly used in commercial baked goods such as breads, cakes, pizza and flour to make it fluffier and more appealing. And you would never know it's in your pizza and cookies, because its already added to the flour, and doesnt have to be listed as a separate ingredient
(At Joseph's Organic Bakery we use unbromated unbleached flour, in fact, we go a step further and grind our own grain, ensuring the highest quality Ancient Grain Bread possible. Check out our organic sourdough breads here.)
5 Dangerous additives in our food supply
Potassium bromate is a known carcinogen, so toxic it has been shown to cause kidney, thyroid, and colon cancer in animal studies. Hence why its banned in many countries in the world.
Red Dye No 3 is commonly found in children's cereal, candies, and drinks to add a vibrant red color. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), red dye 3 is present in over 2,900 food products. multiple studies have demonstrated red dye 3 to cause cancer in animals at high levels. Other studies have shown that red dye 3 and other artificial food dyes may lead to ADHD (hyperactivity) and other neurobehavioral effects in children.
Red Dye 3 was banned from cosmetics decades ago, but mysteriously has remained allowed in foods. Children especially are exposed to red dye 3.
Titanium dioxide, also added to food for coloring purposes, is a known carcinogen and can cause reproductive harm in humans. Consumption of titanium dioxide showed inflammation, oxidative damage, and cancer in animal studies.
Brominated Vegetable Oils (BVO) are found in many soft drinks as well as fruity flavored drinks, especially citrus drinks. BVO is added to drinks to keep ingredients from separating.
Brominated compounds have been linked to numerous health hazards, including harm to the nervous system. BVO can build up in the body, and research has shown a connection between BVO to risk of headaches, irritation of the skin and mucous membranes, fatigue and loss of muscle coordination and memory.
The FDA is doing absolutely nothing to safeguard our food supply, so each state will have to take matters into their own hands
About 99% of chemicals introduced since the year 2000 were certified by the FDA, the Food & drug Administration and the food industry itself through the “Generally recognized as Safe” (GRAS) program, a loophole that watchdog groups say allows the food industry to skip safety checks for new ingredients.
Particularly concerning right now, is the genetically modified (GMO) cow that was recently approved by the FDA as GRAS, generally recognized as safe. As well as lab grown cancer meat and chicken, which is basically genetically modified animal tissue reprogramed to grow indefinitely, in essence cancer meat. Lab grown animal tissues are also GRAS. Read more here. Breaking News FDA Approves Lab Grown GMO "Chicken" for the Second Time – Joseph's Organic Bakery (veganbakerymiami.com)
Food manufacturers who introduce new food chemicals through the GRAS program are required to provide an explanation detailing how they considered the cumulative health effects of a new additive. So in essence the manufacturers are assessing the risks of their own ingredients. This is crazy.
Older chemicals that have been used for decades are not reassessed by the FDA, even if evidence has surfaced regarding their dangerous side effects.
Critics of FDA policies and loopholes, hope the California bill will help spark broader nationwide efforts to reevaluate and ban additives that jeopardize Americans’ health.
Some New York politicians proposed a similar bill in March, and earlier this month, Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, introduced a bill aiming to create an Office of Food Safety Assessment within the FDA that would reevaluate chemicals that slipped into Americans’ favorite snacks without proper or recent review by the agency.
“I think [the California bill] demonstrates that FDA is not doing its job,” said Brian Ronholm, Director of Food Policy at Consumer Reports, which is co-sponsoring the bill with the Environmental Working Group.
“They don’t have the ability to go back and re-review some of these additives that have been approved in the past, so therefore they haven’t looked at these in many years.”
“All the substances in California Bill 418 have been evaluated by the FDA,” said an FDA spokesperson in an email.
Food Industry Opposition
While the bill made it through the California State Assembly, it still has a long journey ahead before it would be signed into law.
The bill is opposed by 16 major food industry groups, including the American Bakers Association, the California Grocers Association and the International Association of Color Manufacturers.
This opposition could make the bill’s journey through the Senate a rocky ride, said Susan Little, Senior Advocate for California Government Affairs at Environmental Working Group.
“All sectors of industry — food manufacturers, grocers, large businesses — are actively working to kill the bill,” said Little. “Now that the bill is halfway through the legislature, industry is trying to stop the bill before it reaches the governor.”
The likelihood that toxic additives will be banned nationwide is slim, but let's hope other states, besides California, will take action and ban the first 5 and thousands of other chemicals dangerous to our health.
The solution
Every day we are exposed to chemicals in our environment, additives in foods as discussed above, heavy metals (from fish, dental work, or vaccines), nitrates in meats, bleaching agents in chicken, preservatives in our foods, prescription and non-prescription medications which clog the liver, household cleaning agents, etc.…
And Where do all these toxins get stored?
In our fat cells.
Fat cells are purposely created by the body to store dangerous toxins that the liver and kidneys cannot remove.
So if you want to avoid destroying your kidneys and liver, and if you need to lose weight, seriously consider avoiding these dangerous ingredients found in most processed foods and adopting a healthy diet.
Also consider going on a safe detoxification prorgam.
Losing weight without removing toxins from our bodies first could be dangerous. When we burn fat cells, toxins get released, so its important that our detoxification pathways are open.
Check out our easy to follow Detoxification Program for Weight Loss Below at Joseph's Organic Bakery