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Banned bread: why does the US allow additives that Europe says are unsafe?

theguardian.com

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Re: Banned bread: why does the US allow additives that Europe says are unsafe?

#21

Post by Scaevolus »

saalweachter wrote: post #7

I do not know anything about these chemicals in particular, but this framing: > It may sound odd, but in America, your loaf of bread can contain ingredients with industrial applications – additives that also appear in things like yoga mats, pesticides, hair straighteners, explosives and petroleum products. always bugs the hell out of me. Water has numerous industrial applications. Linseed oil and NaCl have numerous i…

A particularly egregious case[1] is a lawsuit against LaCroix complaining that their product contains chemicals also used in cockroach insecticide. The chemical in common was linalool, which is just a floral scent!

https://www.snopes.com/news/2018/10/08/lacroix-sparkling-wat...

Re: Banned bread: why does the US allow additives that Europe says are unsafe?

#22

Post by geggam »

weberc2 wrote: post #10

If the FDA is broken, I wonder if some private entity couldn't audit brands and/or grocery chains and publicize a consumer health rating. "But private auditing can't work because for-profit incentives!" Well, there are plenty of cases in which for-profit auditing works just fine and TFA is dunking on the FDA for being a broken public regulator, so...

Perhaps Monsanto ?

The US needs a hard reset, there wont be a simple method to fix what is broken here.

Re: Banned bread: why does the US allow additives that Europe says are unsafe?

#23

Post by wizlord »

1338 wrote: post #11
Artemix wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sugar is a drug, so I guess that addiction can play here. There's not a lot of regulations for health and safety around most ingredients, so I'd say that also plays: Fewer risks of decay and such

sugar is not a drug. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug

Not a drug cuz wikpedia told meh. Got it.

Re: Banned bread: why does the US allow additives that Europe says are unsafe?

#24

Post by weberc2 »

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #18
weberc2 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> straight-up fear-mongering The unofficial Guardian tagline EDIT: Downvoters, from the linked page: > Toxic America: Is modern life poisoning us? Weedkiller in your breakfast cereal. Contaminated drinking water. Carcinogenic chemicals in your furniture. Americans are routinely exposed to dangerous chemicals that have long been banned in countries such as the UK, Germany and France. Of the 40,000 chemicals used in co…

That snippet seems to clearly demonstrate that it is not fear mongering if only 400 of 40,000 chemicals used have been even tested for human safety.

Hard to say since they drop that statistic without bothering to provide any context or citation.

Re: Banned bread: why does the US allow additives that Europe says are unsafe?

#25

Post by reallydude »

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #18
weberc2 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> straight-up fear-mongering The unofficial Guardian tagline EDIT: Downvoters, from the linked page: > Toxic America: Is modern life poisoning us? Weedkiller in your breakfast cereal. Contaminated drinking water. Carcinogenic chemicals in your furniture. Americans are routinely exposed to dangerous chemicals that have long been banned in countries such as the UK, Germany and France. Of the 40,000 chemicals used in co…

That snippet seems to clearly demonstrate that it is not fear mongering if only 400 of 40,000 chemicals used have been even tested for human safety.

> That snippet seems to clearly demonstrate that it is not fear mongering

It demonstrates nothing. There is no citation, there is no definition of what the EPA tests for (vs the FDA or anyone else), what human safety means. A once over interpretation of a throwaway line is not "clearly" proof of anything in any forum.

Re: Banned bread: why does the US allow additives that Europe says are unsafe?

#26

Post by gerbilly »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #12

I've always been fascinated by how disgusting the bread is in the US. Do we know what lead to this ?

The US has no food culture, come on they sell cheese in spray cans.¹

Generally food in the US is sold for size, not flavour or nutritional content.

For example US roaster chickens are huge but basically live short sick lives and taste bland.²

Chickens sold in France are smaller but have more flavour.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Cheese

2: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1541-4337.1...

Re: Banned bread: why does the US allow additives that Europe says are unsafe?

#27

Post by weberc2 »

geggam wrote: post #22
weberc2 wrote: post #10

If the FDA is broken, I wonder if some private entity couldn't audit brands and/or grocery chains and publicize a consumer health rating. "But private auditing can't work because for-profit incentives!" Well, there are plenty of cases in which for-profit auditing works just fine and TFA is dunking on the FDA for being a broken public regulator, so...

Perhaps Monsanto ? The US needs a hard reset, there wont be a simple method to fix what is broken here.

I was hoping for a more substantial reply than "America sucks; it won't work".

Re: Banned bread: why does the US allow additives that Europe says are unsafe?

#28

Post by pwinnski »

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #18
weberc2 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> straight-up fear-mongering The unofficial Guardian tagline EDIT: Downvoters, from the linked page: > Toxic America: Is modern life poisoning us? Weedkiller in your breakfast cereal. Contaminated drinking water. Carcinogenic chemicals in your furniture. Americans are routinely exposed to dangerous chemicals that have long been banned in countries such as the UK, Germany and France. Of the 40,000 chemicals used in co…

That snippet seems to clearly demonstrate that it is not fear mongering if only 400 of 40,000 chemicals used have been even tested for human safety.

That is exactly an example of fear-mongering. "We haven't fully tested nearly 40,000 'chemicals,' so we should assume the worst!"

I make no judgement on whether the numbers are correct, nor on whether any of the substances in question are dangerous or benign. I state only that describing a lack of information as a problem is fear-mongering.

Re: Banned bread: why does the US allow additives that Europe says are unsafe?

#29

Post by logfromblammo »

maxxxxx wrote: post #2

I always look at the ingredients list of bread in the US and I am always surprised how long the list is. Why do they put so much stuff (and always sugar or syrup) into any bread?

Some of it, because they are required to, by law. Some of it, because they are allowed to, by law.

Usually, whenever you see sugar added where it is not necessary, it's because fat or salt was removed from the recipe, to "improve" the numbers on the nutrition panel. And then you have to add the fat and salt back in yourself later, with butter or mayo or something.

You can't reliably and conveniently get "good" bread in the US unless you own a bread machine, and even then you have to pick out your flour carefully. I knew someone that had a grain mill attachment for their electric mixer, so they could make their own whole-grain flours, and be able to trust that they were what they appeared to be. Eventually, that became too inconvenient, and they just stopped eating bread altogether.

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