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.
-
Groundhog Day 2024: Trademark, bankruptcy, and the dollar that failed
It’s Groundhog Day, and the eyes of the nation have turned to a small town in western Pennsylvania. And, just like last year, all anyone can talk about is Punxsutawney Phil! It is impossible to…
-
The Chicken Tax (Classic)
Note: This episode originally ran in 2015. German families in the 60s loved tasty, cheap American-raised chicken that was suddenly coming in after the war. And Americans were loving fun, cheap Volkswagen Beetles. This arrangement…
-
Bonus: Janet Yellen on Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!
Our friends at NPR’s news quiz Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! recently had a very Planet Money guest on their show: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. They asked her about smoking pot, her extremely high scores in…
-
Rescues at sea, and how to make a fortune
At around 1 a.m. on the morning of November 15, 1994, Captain Prentice “Skip” Strong III woke to a distress call. Skip was the new captain of an oil tanker called the Cherry Valley. He…
-
Hear us out: We ban left turns and other big ideas
On today’s episode, we have three big economic ideas for your consideration – ideas that could potentially improve the economy and make us more efficient. First, what if we ban left turns on roads? Then,…
-
Econ Battle Zone: Disinflation Confrontation
After very high inflation, the United States is finally feeling some relief in the form of “disinflation.” But, why exactly has inflation slowed down? Three Planet Money hosts try to answer that question while competing…
-
Mid-East conflict escalation, two indicators
On today’s show, we look at two indicators of the economic disruptions of the war in Gaza and try to trace how far they will reach. We start in the Red Sea, a crucial link…
-
The Maine Potato War of 1976
When you think of a potato, one state probably comes to mind: Idaho. But for much of American history, Maine was home to the nation’s largest potato crop. That status had changed by the 1970s,…
-
The Universal Basic Income experiment in Kenya
There’s this fundamental question in economics that has proven really hard to answer: What’s a good way to help people out of poverty? The old-school way was to fund programs that would support very particular…
-
The case of the serial sinking Spanish ships
Picture the Pacific Ocean of the 16th century. Spanish Galleons sail the wide open seas, carrying precious cargo like silver, porcelain, and textiles. The waters are dangerous; ship logs show concerns over pirates. But pirates…