Governing Additives and Preservation Techniques

Who ensures that our food is safe?

Quick Glance: Approved!

As you know, the government's reach affects all aspects of our lives. One of the important items where we see protection is in our food supply. The FDA helps to oversee and guard Americans from harmful foods and unsafe practices. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was established to oversee the industry. There are quite a few steps to the approval process, but this ensures quality.

Explore: Is It Safe?

The FDA oversees items that are expected to become a component of food. That includes food additives and preservatives. If the substance is GRAS (generally recognized as safe) then it does not need premarket approval. These items that are classified as GRAS have been qualified by scientists and experienced technicians regarding the safety and intended use.

The food item must comply with specifications and limitations. The overall status of a food is affected by the approval status of each individual product. So, it is a lengthy process to develop a food item. There are few areas of criteria that a manufacturer must meet when considering using a food additive or preservative.

Food Ingredient Decision Tree

See the Food Ingredient Decision Tree provided by the FDA.gov website to get a better understanding of how this process works.

Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

The United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (abbreviated as FFDCA , FDCA , or FD&C ), is a set of laws passed by Congress in 1938 giving authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the safety of food, drugs, and cosmetics.

At the time, the government felt it was necessary to create an act to help protect citizens from medications and tainted food. This act replaced the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. This act generally helps to protect consumers from dangerous food, drugs, cosmetics, and devices. In today’s day and age with so many choices for consumers, this is a helpful way to weed out products that are harmful or defective.

Learn more about the FFDCA act in the presentation below-

Challenge

So do you think you understand food additives? Try the challenge below to test your knowledge.

Takeaway: Foods From Outside the US

Did you know that foods that are imported here to the US must undergo the same type of approval process (FDA) and labeling requirements as food produced here? It must be safe and contain no prohibited ingredients, and all labeling and packaging must be informative and truthful within our laws. Can you think of any imported food that must go through this process?

Here is a list of commonly imported items and their country of origin.

Fish and seafood- China
Fresh Fruits and Nuts- South America and Canada
Vegetables- Mexico
Meat- Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
Coffee- South America

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS OR OPENSOURCE