Benzophenone, ethyl acrylate, eugenyl methyl ether, myrcene, pulegone, pyridine, and styrene. These 7 chemicals have been banned by the US Food Drug Administration, yet they’re still readily found in much of the candy in your local grocery store.
According to this post on Foodbabe.com, ”The FDA recently banned 7 ingredients used to make “artificial flavors” that have been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals. These ingredients were originally approved in 1964, so have been in our food for decades. This ban would have never happened if it wasn’t for the FDA petition and lawsuit filed by several consumer protection organizations who put persistent pressure on the FDA to take action.”
Odds are you won’t find these ingredients listed in the back of the candy’s packaging. The banned chemicals are covered by the umbrella term “artificial flavors.” Also according to the article, “Artificial flavors are complex chemical mixtures made in a lab using various substances like crude oil or coal tar, and can contain upwards of 100 ingredients (including those just banned).”
Any of the companies using these artificial flavors has been warned about the 7 ingredients that were recently banned. However, the FDA has given them up to two years to remove them from their artificial flavors. This means that, in the meantime, people can still purchase and consume these potentially dangerous chemicals.
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