With two federal agencies involved in reviewing the safety of food chemicals in meat, poultry and egg products, it would be easy to assume those foods are doubly safe – that no potentially harmful chemicals hide in these products.
But instead of ensuring complete safety for meat and poultry products, the two agencies – the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration – are playing a long-running game of hot potato. And their agreement about how to review food additives has landed these chemicals in a regulatory black hole.
But a new bill introduced today by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) could change that. The Agricultural Food Chemical Reassessment Act would force the USDA’s hand and mark a big step in jumpstarting the process of reevaluating additives linked to health harms. And it would be a victory for consumers who want to be confident their food is safe to eat.
The current state of play
The USDA regulates meat, poultry and egg products. The FDA is tasked with the same authority over food chemicals.
So when it comes to the chemicals used in meat, poultry and egg products, the agencies each play a role in assessing whether they are safe and suitable for that use. But many additives approved for use in meat and poultry have not been meaningfully reviewed for decades, if ever.
As part of its agreement with the USDA, the FDA is responsible for making safety determinations but frequently allows additives to bypass safety review by allowing the food industry to benefit from a loophole declaring they are generally recognized as safe, or GRAS.
The two agencies have also agreed that any additive approved by the FDA as GRAS or otherwise approved for general use in food is considered safe and suitable for use in meat, poultry or egg products, unless the USDA specifies otherwise.
And neither agency is ever required to reassess food additives, even if new evidence raises concerns about their safety.
The FDA has largely abandoned its responsibility for reassessing food additives. But the USDA can regulate the use of food additives in meat and poultry products and impose stricter requirements than the FDA, if it finds that the use of a particular substance is not suitable or could adulterate a particular product.
The USDA has rarely used this authority.
Schakowsky’s bill would require the USDA to reassess seven food additives and determine whether their use in meat, poultry and egg products would lead to adulterated products and make them unfit for human consumption.
This bill would jumpstart reassessment of food additives that have not been reviewed for many years, despite their regular use in meat and poultry products. Each of the food additives that would be reevaluated has been linked to specific health and environmental concerns.
7 toxic chemicals in the spotlight
The proposed legislation would require the USDA to re-examine the use of the following chemicals in meat and poultry products:
BHA and BHT
Butylated hydroxyanisole, or BHA, and butylated hydroxytoluene, or BHT, are used as preservatives in meat products, including sausage, pepperoni and dried meats. They are both recognized as GRAS.
This status hasn’t been reassessed since 1977, even though these types of meat have been linked to serious health harms, including cancer and hormone disruption. And the presence of BHA and BHT in spice mixtures on meat and poultry products doesn’t have to be disclosed.
Sodium nitrite
Sodium nitrite is used to preserve and stabilize color in processed and cured meat and poultry products. Sodium nitrite has been approved for use in meat and poultry products since before 1958, when Congress first required that food additives be approved before use.
Neither the USDA nor the FDA has reassessed its safety since 1984. Studies show sodium nitrite may cause cancer and reproductive toxicity. After the European Food Safety Authority reassessed this chemical in 2017, the European Union set stricter limits on its use in meat products.
Sodium aluminum phosphate
Sodium aluminum phosphate is used as a binding agent in fish, meat and poultry products. It can be found in fish sticks and frozen fish filets, as well as chicken nuggets. It is considered GRAS and has not been reviewed since 1977, despite concerns about aluminum and phosphorus accumulation, which may in turn harm the kidney, liver and nervous system.
Titanium dioxide
Titanium dioxide is a color additive used to whiten or brighten other colors. It can be found in poultry products and canned meat products. The FDA last reviewed it in 1972. In 2022, the EU banned its use in food.
Titanium dioxide has been found to cause DNA damage, and studies have linked it to health harms, including harm to the immune and nervous systems.
Cetylpyridinium chloride
Cetylpyridinium chloride, or CPC, has been used as a disinfecting agent to treat poultry parts and products since 2004. It is used to compensate for poor hygiene standards in the poultry production process. Although CPC has been linked to immunotoxicity and possible harm to the hormone system, in addition to environmental harm, disclosure of its use is not required on product labels. The EU does not permit CPC to be used in meat and poultry production.
Sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid is used as a preservative, flavor enhancer and processing aid in meat and poultry products. Its GRAS status was last affirmed in 1980. Like CPC, sulfuric acid used for processing does not need to be disclosed to consumers.
Sulfuric acid mists are classified as known carcinogens on California’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. High exposure to sulfuric acid has been linked to cancer and other health harms, such as ulcerative colitis and organ damage. Particularly at risk are the workers who apply sulfuric acid during processing.
Review of these chemicals in food is long overdue. The USDA and the FDA should not be allowed to point only to decades-old science to show that ingredients are safe. To achieve beneficial change, Congress needs to pass the Agricultural Food Chemical Reassessment Act.
