The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday took steps toward banning BHA, a food additive used in processed foods such as meats and bread.
BHA, or butylated hydroxyanisole, has been used in the food supply for decades. The FDA first listed it as “generally recognized as safe” in 1958 and approved it as a food additive in 1961. It’s used to prevent fats and oils in food from spoiling and can show up in products such as frozen meals, breakfast cereals, cookies, ice cream and some meat products.
The agency said it’s launching a new safety review of the chemical, pointing to long-standing concerns that the food additive might cause cancer in humans.
In the 1990s, the National Toxicology Program — a federal program that reviews whether certain chemicals may cause harm — identified BHA as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” based on animal studies. It’s been listed as a known carcinogen under California’s Proposition 65.
A handful of studies linking BHA to cancer in animals date back to the 1980s and 1990s, although research in humans is thin.
As a part of its review, the FDA said it is issuing a so-called request for information, asking the public and industry to submit data on how BHA is sued and whether it’s safe.
“This reassessment marks the end of the ‘trust us’ era in food safety,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a release.
The review aligns with Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, which has focused heavily on cracking down on chemicals in the food supply.
Last year, Kennedy announced a plan to phase out all artificial dyes from the food supply by the end of this year, claiming they are responsible for behavioral problems in children, including hyperactivity — a link that the FDA has said it’s monitoring but that hasn’t been established.
The FDA has since approved “natural” dyes, including beetroot red, and the expanded use of spirulina extract, an existing color additive derived from a type of algae.
Marion Nestle, professor emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University said she wants to know how the FDA plans to evaluate BHA for safety.
Previous toxicology studies on BHA have relied on lab testing and animal experiments, and it’s not always clear how well those results translate to humans, she said.
Human studies aren’t really possible, she added, noting that they’d take too long, cost too much and raise major ethical concerns.
Still, Nestle applauded the FDA’s move to launch a new safety review of BHA. She said the chemical has been on the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s “avoid” list for ages. The center is a watchdog group for food safety.
“It’s about time the FDA got to it,” Nestle said. ”It will be interesting to see what its reviewers conclude.”
The Consumer Brands Association, an industry trade group, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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