5 Meals Components that Are Banned in Europe however Nonetheless Used Right here

A invoice launched to the California state legislature appears to be like to ban 5 meals components which can be already banned by the European Union. The chemical compounds focused by Meeting Invoice 418 have both been recognized to trigger well being issues or can’t be dominated out as potential well being hazards when consumed. 

The invoice, which was launched final month by California State Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat from the San Fernando Valley, would make California the primary US state to ban the chemical compounds being utilized in meals manufacturing and packaging.

In a press convention final Thursday on Zoom, Gabriel famous that many meals manufacturers together with Coke and Pepsi, in addition to nationwide meals retail and restaurant chains comparable to Dunkin’, Kroger and Panera Bread, have moved away from the usage of the chemical compounds in query. Different well-liked merchandise, nonetheless, nonetheless use these EU-banned components, together with Skittles and several other Hostess desserts. 

In a launch posted on-line, proponents of the first-of-its-kind laws have outlined the 5 chemical compounds and their potential well being hazards:

• Crimson Dye No. 3 has been linked to most cancers and behavioral issues in youngsters. It’s discovered in additional than 2,000 meals merchandise, together with many sorts of sweet, cookies and different meals marketed to youngsters. In 1990, the FDA banned many makes use of of the dye, citing most cancers dangers. Since 1994, the European Union allowed Crimson No. 3 for use in candied and cocktail cherries solely.
• Brominated vegetable oil can construct up within the physique and has been linked to a number of well being harms, together with to the nervous system. It’s prohibited within the EU from use in processed meals. 
• Potassium bromate has been linked to most cancers however has not been reviewed for security by the FDA since 1973. It has been prohibited from use in processed meals within the EU since 1990 and since then has been on California’s Proposition 65 checklist of chemical compounds that will trigger most cancers.
• Propyl paraben has not been totally reviewed for security by the FDA. It has been linked to hurt to the hormone and reproductive methods, together with decreased sperm counts. It has been prohibited from use in meals within the EU since 2006 however continues to be used as a preservative within the US.
• Titanium dioxide has been linked to break to our DNA and hurt to the immune system. In 2022, the EU prohibited it from use in meals supplied on the market, however it’s nonetheless allowed in meals bought within the US. It’s present in well-liked snacks like Skittles.

In a press release, Susan Little, senior advocate for California authorities affairs on the activist group Environmental Working Group, stated of the chemical compounds: “We all know they’re dangerous and that youngsters are seemingly being uncovered at a a lot larger charge than adults. It is unnecessary that the identical merchandise meals producers promote in California are bought within the EU however with out these poisonous chemical compounds. Our youngsters should be protected, too.”

In July, a lawsuit was filed in opposition to Mars, the maker of Skittles, claiming the sweet is unfit for human consumption.