Advocates challenge FDA allowance of toxic chemical in food
Public health advocates recently used a little-known legal tool to challenge a recent FDA move allowing a toxic chemical in food packaging. The groups filed an objection to FDA’s decision to continue to allow perchlorate in dry food packaging. They also requested a formal evidentiary public hearing to secure an independent judgment of the agency’s decision.
“Children get one chance at a healthy brain and the FDA’s decision puts that at risk,” says Tom Neltner, chemicals policy director at EDF. “The food supply is already extensively contaminated with perchlorate, and exposure is going up for young children. One in five pregnant women cannot tolerate any perchlorate exposure. We are taking action because the agency missed a crucial opportunity to protect children’s brain development. Their refusal to ban perchlorate in food packaging was both legally and scientifically flawed.”