FDA is moving to ban cancer-causing solvents from our food

The FDA is gathering final public input and manufacturer data before deciding whether to ban four toxic solvents — benzene, ethylene dichloride, methylene chloride, and trichloroethylene — from the US food supply.

Under a federal law passed in 1958, any chemical found to cause cancer in humans or animals is legally banned from being used as a food additive.

Sounds reasonable, but there was a loophole kept open just for these four specific industrial solvents. Food companies use them as cheap chemical shortcuts to strip caffeine from decaf coffee, extract flavor from hops for beer, and wash sugar beets.

Other agencies labeled these as carcinogens back in the 1970s, but the FDA kept these exemption for the low-risk environment of our groceries stores.

The food we eat.

Well, environmental groups forced the issue with a formal petition. Things really changed when the EPA finalized a ban on methylene chloride for industrial uses. Because one federal agency has now declared the chemical too toxic for paint strippers, the FDA can no longer defend leaving it in decaf coffee.

Food companies have a month to submit data on how they will phase these chemicals out. The businesses using these solvents are being forced to invest in cleaner water-based or carbon-dioxide extraction methods before the final ban lands.