WASHINGTON – The Environmental Working Group applauds the reintroduction today of House legislation that would require the Food and Drug Administration to meaningfully review the safety of food chemicals.
The bill would require the FDA to ensure the safety of chemicals that have entered the food supply chain through loopholes, or that the agency reviewed decades ago.
The Food Chemical Reassessment Act of 2025, introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), would impose these new mandates on the FDA’s Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements and Innovation.
The bill also calls for immediate FDA reassessment of 18 chemicals added to food or food packaging.
“Too many chemicals in our food supply haven’t been properly reviewed for safety, or haven’t been looked at in decades,” said EWG Policy Director Jessica Hernandez. “We’re grateful to Rep. Schakowsky and Rep. DeLauro for taking action to make sure the FDA does its job to protect our health.”
The bill specifies the chemicals perchlorate, sodium benzoate, sodium nitrite, TBHQ, titanium dioxide, Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2, Green Dye No. 3, Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, propyl gallate, BHA, BHT, trichloroethylene, methylene chloride, benzene and ethylene chloride.
Thousands of chemicals are added to food and food packaging to make food last longer, taste better and look more enticing. Some of these chemicals have been meaningfully reviewed by the FDA. But many reviews were completed decades ago and do not reflect the most recent science.
And a large number of the chemicals have never been meaningfully reviewed by the FDA. Instead they’ve entered the marketplace through a legal loophole that Congress intended to narrowly apply to ingredients that are generally recognized as safe, or GRAS.
What actually happens is food manufacturers wind up deciding on the safety of almost all food chemicals.
“Other countries regularly reexamine the safety of food chemicals as new science emerges,” Hernandez said. “Here in the U.S., agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency update chemical safety standards for pesticides, but food chemicals have been left behind in a regulatory black hole.”
Many of the chemicals identified for immediate FDA review in Schakowsky’s bill have been linked to health concerns. For example:
- TBHQ has been linked to harm to the immune system.
- Titanium dioxide may damage DNA and is no longer considered safe for food by European food safety experts.
- Perchlorate has been linked to neurological harm.
Schakowsky’s bill would also re-establish a Food Advisory Council to advise the FDA on the best methods to review the safety of food chemicals.
“For too long, it’s been food and chemical companies – not the FDA – deciding whether many chemicals in our food are safe,” Hernandez said. “Even when the FDA does weigh in, it’s often using outdated science. It’s time to bring food chemical reviews into the 21st century to better protect public health.”
###
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
