Dear Mr./Madam President,

 I would like to address a big issue concerning the dangerous ingredients that the FDA allows companies to add to food. These toxic additives are banned in other countries yet the government has ignored many of the health and safety risks these foods have.  The poison that is added to food these days have been proved to cause diseases such as cancer to animals. Imagine what it is doing to humans! As long as these unhealthy products are appealing to consumers and making money, they will likely continue to be on the shelves unless some interference happens. People don't know what they are really eating and how it affects their health because there are no warning labels, vague nutrition facts, and simply not enough information.

 Most Americans will sit down in the morning and pour a bowl of Rice Krispies and milk without a second thought. Imagine if these people found out that this simple breakfast was banned in other countries, including the European Union. People should be able to trust that the government is in their best interest, not the big companies who stock grocery stores full of foods that need to have a skull on the nutrition facts. According to multiple websites, such as “Eat this, not that!” they explain that Rice Krispies are not sold as they are in other countries because they contain preservatives BHT and BHA. “Based on animal studies, the National Toxicology program has concluded that BHA is reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen, while BHT has been linked to increased- or sometimes decreased risk of cancer in animals.” This statement outlines that these additives are extremely dangerous, including the fact that in some cases it lowers the risk of cancer because that is something the FDA would focus on. However, the main issue is that in most cases it increases the risk of cancer. Another risk of BHA and BHT is that it can induce allergic reactions to the skin. The FDA has been keeping these problems in the dark for way too long. In an article by David Suzuki, “long term exposure to high doses of BHT is toxic in mice and rats, causing liver, thyroid and kidney problems and affecting lung function and blood coagulation...BHT can act as a tumor promoter in certain situations.” If the FDA was aware that these risks were really prominent in popular food products, they should have raised more of a concern because millions of adults, children, and ever toddlers all over the country are consuming them.

 Milk is a product used by people every day all around the world, yet is found to be unsafe in America. The European Union has banned milk that contains the growth hormone rBGH which is given to cows. This hormone is completely legal here in the United States. The national cancer society says that rBGH “causes adverse health effects in cows.” If the cows are unhealthy, their products are going to be unhealthy as well. The government spends time promoting the health benefits of milk, but it looks like it could just be a marketing tool because the FDA “has dismissed evidence for these risks in order to approve rBGH.” The European Union as well as multiple countries have banned these hormones because they are dangerous to cows and humans. Any food product that has ingredients which most likely cause diseases need to be reviewed further and stopped from being sold.

 These are just three of the harmful chemicals that are allowed in food. No normal person would want to eat chlorine on a daily basis; however, this chemical is used to wash chicken. Flour companies are even allowed to use bleach on their products. The use of cleaning products in food is unacceptable.  The government is supposed to keep people safe and if ingredients in our food are illegal in other countries, there should be a huge concern from the FDA to resolve these issues.

Sincerely,

Zoe Nygaard

Resources:

www.eatthis.com

Davidsuzuki.org

www.foodandwaterwatch.org