U.S. Lawmaker Pushes FDA to Limit Dangerous Chemicals in Food
- Phthalates can impair child brain development, experts say
- Illinois Democrat seeks decision on request to ban phthalates
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi
Photographer: Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo/Bloomberg
An Illinois congressman is pushing U.S. health officials to act on a request to ban chemicals commonly used in food packaging that have been shown to affect the reproductive system and children’s cognitive development.
U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat who leads the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s consumer policy panel, wrote to Acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Janet Woodcock asking her to explain what evidence the agency has that the levels of the chemicals, called phthalates, that it currently allows in food packaging are safe. Krishnamoorthi said the Consumer Product Safety Commission has banned eight phthalates in children’s toys at concentrations of more than 0.1%.