Planet Money
99% of chemicals in our food right now were added without FDA approval. Many were added in secret, through a sneaky loophole built into the 1958 Food Additives Amendment.
It was supposed to require FDA approval for new additives. But food companies and chemical makers found a workaround. And the FDA formally okayed the loophole in the 90s — in the process bringing attention to a loophole to the loophole.
The FDA has essentially admitted it doesn’t have the capacity to verify the safety of new food chemicals. So they leave it up to food companies and chemical makers to declare their brand new chemicals are safe. These chemicals are used in everything from chocolate and smoked fish, to tea bags, protein drinks, popcorn, and seeds.
So, how’d the loophole get there, and what does it tell us about the priority the U.S. places on safety versus speed and innovation? And, how much can one lawyer do about it?
Live show tour and book info. / Subscribe to Planet Money+
Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
This episode was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez, produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, edited by Jess Jiang, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Robert Rodrguez with help from Kwesi Lee. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer. Â
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
-
Summer School 3: The first stock and perpetual life
Episodes each Wednesday through labor day. Find all the episodes from this season here. And past seasons here. And follow along on TikTok here for video Summer School. Once upon a time, every business was…
-
What Kamala Harris’ economic agenda might look like
Last weekend we were all thrown for a loop when President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Kamala Harris for the nomination. Just like everyone else, we are trying to quickly…
-
The color monopoly
In 2022, artist Stuart Semple opened up his laptop to find that all his designs had turned black overnight. All the colors, across files on Adobe products like Photoshop and Illustrator, were gone. Who had…
-
Summer School 2: The golden ages of labor and looms
Who has the power? Workers or bosses? It changes through the ages, though it’s usually the bosses. Today, we look at two key moments when the power of labor shifted, for better and worse, and…
-
Rooftop solar’s dark side
4.5 million households in the U.S. have solar panels on their homes. Most of those customers are happy with it – their electricity bills have just about disappeared, and it’s great for the planet. But…
-
Summer School 1: An Economic History of the World
Planet Money Summer School is back for eight weeks. Join as we travel back in time to find the origins of our economic way of life. Today we ask surprisingly hard question: What is money?…
-
How flying got so bad (or did it?)
We often hear that air travel is worse than it’s ever been. Gone are the days when airplanes touted piano bars and meat carving stations — or even free meals. Instead we’re crammed into tiny…
-
The two companies driving the modern economy
At the core of most of the electronics we use today are some very tiny, very powerful chips. Semiconductor chips. And they are mighty: they help power our phones, laptops, and cars. They enable advances…
-
Do immigrants really take jobs and lower wages?
We wade into the heated debate over immigrants’ impact on the labor market. When the number of workers in a city increases, does that take away jobs from the people who already live and work…
-
The Carriage Tax (Update)
(Note: A version of this episode originally ran in 2019.) In 1794, George Washington decided to raise money for the federal government by taxing the rich. He did it by putting a tax on horse-drawn…