Consumers digesting the news that aspartame may be linked to cancer will probably develop heartburn once they learn about loopholes in the Food and Drug Administration’s food chemical safety system.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, or IARC, which is part of the World Health Organization, today announced its new findings on aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in many popular drinks, snacks and other food products.
Aspartame is just one of many chemicals lurking in food sold in the U.S.
For decades, the Food and Drug Administration has allowed chemical companies to decide whether most chemicals used in food are safe. EWG recently found 99 percent of the food chemicals that have entered the marketplace since 2000 were reviewed for safety by industry scientists, not the FDA.
But even when the FDA reviews food chemicals for safety, it rarely evaluates old decisions approving substances for use – even if there is new evidence of their health harms.
Some chemicals, like pesticides, must be reviewed for safety by the Environmental Protection Agency every 15 years. But there is no requirement for the FDA to periodically double check the safety of food chemicals.
As a result, the vast majority of the chemicals we consume in a host of foods and beverages every day have not been re-reviewed for safety for decades, if ever. Two chemicals – potassium bromate and propylparaben – linked to cancer and harm to the immune system, respectively, have not been reviewed for safety by the FDA in nearly half a century.
The IARC’s new data underscore concerns about aspartame, another food chemical. Aspartame was first approved in 1974, but the FDA withdrew its approval once safety concerns were noted. Under pressure from industry, the FDA approved the chemical again in 1981, and expanded uses of aspartame in 1996. The last meaningful review of aspartame was in 2014 – almost a decade ago – when the agency rejected citizen petitions to revoke uses of the chemical.
The FDA may pledge to review IARC’s conclusions. But even when the FDA pledges to conduct food chemical safety reviews, those promises often go unfulfilled. The agency broke a 1990 promise to review the safety of Red Dye No. 3, which is linked to cancer. For BVO, a chemical used in soda and linked to thyroid impacts, the FDA committed to a prompt safety review – in 1977. The agency is only now following up on that decades-old promise.
Adding a review of BVO, or brominated vegetable oil, to the federal government’s list of expected actions this year is more akin to a new year’s resolution than real action – 80 percent of the FDA proposals added to the “regulatory agenda” of upcoming actions are never completed.
Even when organizations petition the FDA, it is slow to act. In the case of BHA, a chemical that has been linked to cancer, the FDA has not responded to a petition to review it for 33 years.
The FDA conceded this lack of “post-market” review in a recent announcement. A task force of experts the agency appointed also documented a troubling bias against FDA action, citing infighting and “consistent turmoil.”
Although FDA Commissioner Robert Califf is reorganizing the agency’s food safety program, change will not come soon enough to address consumers’ concerns about aspartame.
The FDA should give the IARC’s conclusions about the chemical a close look, but Congress should also ensure that the FDA has the resources and direction to ensure that all of our food chemicals are safe.
