Who decides if your food is safe?
Out of balance: conflicts of interest persist in food chemicals determined to be generally recognized as safe
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
The same seven experts have dominated GRAS panels for over 20 years, despite hundreds of qualified scientists in the U.S. being available.
People assume food safety is reviewed by diverse, rotating experts—this study shows it’s a revolving door of the same paid insiders, suggesting the system is designed for consistency of approval, not scientific rigor.
Practical Takeaways
Check the ingredient list on packaged foods and search ‘[ingredient name] GRAS notice’ on the FDA website to see who approved it and if it was self-declared.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
The same seven experts have dominated GRAS panels for over 20 years, despite hundreds of qualified scientists in the U.S. being available.
People assume food safety is reviewed by diverse, rotating experts—this study shows it’s a revolving door of the same paid insiders, suggesting the system is designed for consistency of approval, not scientific rigor.
Practical Takeaways
Check the ingredient list on packaged foods and search ‘[ingredient name] GRAS notice’ on the FDA website to see who approved it and if it was self-declared.
Publication
Journal
Environmental Health
Year
2023
Authors
Klara Matouskova, Thomas G. Neltner, M. Maffini
Related Content
Claims (6)
Out of all the expert panels that reviewed food safety notices for the FDA between 2015 and 2020, just seven people showed up nearly half the time—like the same few names keeping reappearing, even though there were hundreds of panels.
Almost four in ten times when companies told the government their food ingredients are safe, they didn’t ask outside experts—they just relied on their own staff to decide.
Between 2015 and 2020, 29 people kept getting picked to serve on safety review panels for food ingredients, and two groups of these people were only connected to two specific consulting companies.
The same seven people have been making food safety decisions for over 20 years—some think they’re staying on the job because they’re getting paid, not because they’re making unbiased science-based choices.
Companies hire consulting firms to set up expert panels that decide if food ingredients are safe, but the FDA says these panels should be formed just for each case—not kept as permanent teams—to avoid bias.