The Environmental Working Group applauds today’s introduction of House legislation that would require the Department of Agriculture to reassess seven potentially harmful food chemicals used in meat, poultry and eggs.The Agricultural Food Chemical Reassessment Act of 2024 would require the secretary of agriculture to update its regulation of the seven chemicals based on a fresh review of their potential to harm human health. The reassessment would be carried out by the administrator of the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).
The chemicals the bill takes aim at are butylated hydroxyanisole, or BHA, butylated hydroxytoluene, or BHT, cetylpyridinium chloride, sodium aluminum phosphate, sodium nitrate, sulfuric acid and titanium dioxide. They are added to meat, dairy and eggs as emulsifiers, colorants and preservatives and as disinfecting agents in the packaging process. Read more