The FDA currently allows toxic chemicals to contaminate our food, harming our immune systems, children's brain development and leading to serious diseases like cancer.
The FDA isn’t protecting you or your family from these toxic chemicals.
What they are: Arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead.
Where they’re hiding: 95% of baby foods.
Why they’re harmful: Why they’re harmful: Heavy metals harm children’s developing brains.
What they are: A group of industrial chemicals known as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances.
Where they’re hiding: PFAS escape into everyday foods through food packaging.
Why they’re harmful: PFAS cause cancer, reproductive problems, weight gain, and more.
What they are: A group of industrial chemicals used in food packaging and processing.
Where they’re hiding: Phthalates escape into foods we all eat through food handling materials and packaging.
Why they’re harmful: Phthalates are endocrine disruptors and are linked to breast cancer, obesity, asthma, developmental and fertility problems.
What they are: Industrial chemical used in fireworks, road flares, and more.
Where they’re hiding: Perchlorate escapes into foods through plastic packaging and food handling equipment.
Why they’re harmful: Perchlorate slows thyroid function, threatening fetal and child brain development.
What they are: BPA is an industrial chemical used to make long-lasting, impact-resistant plastic products and to coat the inside of food cans to prevent corrosion.
Where they’re hiding: BPA escapes into our food from can linings and hard plastic containers used to store the things we eat and drink.
Why they’re harmful: BPA can disrupt our immune system and hormones, damage our lungs, harm reproduction, increase risk of breast cancer, and impair learning and memory.
99% of Americans — including newborn babies — have toxic PFAS in their blood. A recent study found heavy metals in 95% of baby foods. The FDA overlooks the health risks associated with consuming toxic chemicals despite rising levels of chronic diseases including diabetes, obesity, and kidney disease in the U.S. in recent decades.
For decades, chemical companies that manufacture industrial chemicals have covered up their harmful health impacts. Even more alarming: the FDA allows chemical companies to decide in secret which toxic chemicals are “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS) for human consumption.
FDA allows companies to secretly decide if chemicals added to food are safe without the agency or the public knowing. In addition, for decades, chemical companies like DuPont and Exxon that manufacture industrial chemicals have covered up their harmful health impacts.
We’re calling on the FDA to take immediate action to prioritize public health for all of us. The agency must update its rules in order to make critical food safety decisions based on the latest science.
Our organizations represent millions of consumers, scientists, medical experts, parents, farmers, and everyday Americans concerned about the health impacts of toxic chemicals in food. Our alliance has a simple demand: the FDA should use modern science to keep our food and families safe.
