5 FDA Approved Food Additives Banned in Other Countries (Berkeley Acupuncture)

Americans have to trust the FDA to decide what can or can’t be added to food products on our supermarket shelves. But in our global era, who’s to say the American FDA should have the last word on what’s OK for us to eat? Other countries make judgments about the same foods as the FDA—and often come to very different, and scary, conclusions.

Of late, the FDA has made strides toward getting bad stuff off our shelves and out of our bodies. It finally put its foot down on that whole arsenic-in-chicken thing and decided to tackle the giant mess that is antibiotics in meat (well, sort of).  But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to public health and food safety—and in comparison with standards in other countries, the U.S. is decidedly in the minority on some of its judgment calls. Here are five foods other countries have banned and deemed unfit for human consumption that you might want to avoid—because hey, maybe the FDA just hasn’t gotten around to regulating them yet?

mericans have to trust the FDA to decide what can or can’t be added to food products on our supermarket shelves. But in our global era, who’s to say the American FDA should have the last word on what’s OK for us to eat? Other countries make judgments about the same foods as the FDA—and often come to very different, and scary, conclusions.

Of late, the FDA has made strides toward getting bad stuff off our shelves and out of our bodies. It finally put its foot down on that whole arsenic-in-chicken thing and decided to tackle the giant mess that is antibiotics in meat (well, sort of).  But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to public health and food safety—and in comparison with standards in other countries, the U.S. is decidedly in the minority on some of its judgment calls. Here are five foods other countries have banned and deemed unfit for human consumption that you might want to avoid—because hey, maybe the FDA just hasn’t gotten around to regulating them yet?

Christina “Mei Wen” Martin, L.Ac., Dipl.AC, MTOM, FABORM.

christina@berkeley-acupuncture.com

Christina Martin is the founder of Tao to Wellness. She is an Acupuncturist, Chinese Herbalist and Teacher and has been in practice for over fifteen years.  She holds a Master’s Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine and is California state licensed and a nationally certified Diplomat of Acupuncture.  She is also a Fellow of the American Board of Reproductive Oriental Medicine.