Health risks linked to diet are becoming more common in the U.S., especially among children. Fifteen-year-old Tiara Channer was diagnosed with prediabetes at 13, a condition that affects one in five American kids and increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and kidney problems. Tiara and her mother, Crystal Cauley, attribute her diagnosis to a diet heavy in ultra-processed foods.
“[Tiara] actually had to have a neurological consult, because she felt the tingling and the different sensations,” Cauley explained. “And it was all linked to prediabetes. So it was a wake-up call, but she took the challenge to do better.”
By shifting to whole, minimally processed foods and increasing physical activity, Tiara managed to reverse her prediabetes diagnosis and lost 50 pounds. Despite the success, understanding what is truly healthy proved challenging.
“It is kind of hard when you’re young, you’re trying to figure out what kind of lifestyle change do I want to do? Like, how can I help myself? How can I benefit myself?” Tiara said. “It was kind of a little bit difficult, because learning nutrition isn’t that easy.”
Ultra-Processed Foods Dominate the American Diet
Ultra-processed foods are everywhere, offering low cost and high convenience. Today, they make up more than half of the average American adult’s diet and two-thirds of what American children eat.
Critics argue that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), responsible for regulating 80% of the country’s food, has not done enough to protect consumers from the health risks these foods pose.
Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, expressed concern:
“I think the FDA has been negligent,” Sanders told CBS Reports. “And I think we want to make sure that they’re more aggressive in reviewing the products that are getting onto the market.”
The U.S. Food Additive Landscape vs. Europe
The U.S. allows roughly 10,000 food additives, far more than the 411 approved in the European Union. FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf points out that cultural and legal differences play a role.
“Different societies have different degrees of tolerance for uncertainty, and different laws that determine what the regulators can do as substances are added,” Califf said. “America is a country that likes individual choice and access in general. And I think our laws reflect that sort of national sentiment.”
Almost half of the approved additives fall under a category called GRAS—Generally Recognized As Safe. Established in 1958, GRAS originally covered familiar ingredients like vinegar and baking soda. Companies could submit substances to the FDA for GRAS approval, but the process changed in 1997 to reduce agency workload.
The FDA introduced a “voluntary notification” system, allowing companies to declare additives GRAS on their own without informing the agency.
GRAS Loophole and Its Impact
Research by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found that 99% of 766 food chemicals introduced between 2000 and 2021 bypassed FDA review by using the GRAS designation. Many more likely went unreported.
Emily Broad Leib, director of Harvard’s Food Law and Policy Clinic, says this system functions as a loophole.
“Thousands of substances have entered the food supply using that mechanism,” she explained. “FDA can always afterwards say something is no longer generally recognized as safe. They’ve done that with artificial trans fat or partially hydrogenated oils. But there’s so many substances that, you know, it really is, I think, challenging given the resources. FDA has to really be on top of that all the time.”
The FDA maintains it actively monitors food safety and updates its chemical assessment system, but Commissioner Califf notes limitations:
“The FDA is more like a referee than it is like the owner of the team. The rules are written by Congress and dictated by the executive branch of the government. And what the FDA does is to take those rules and then apply them to make decisions based on the rulebook. … The FDA has really got to modernize. But again, we can’t step beyond the rulebook.”
Legislative Efforts to Address the Issue
To counter these risks, Sanders is co-sponsoring the Childhood Obesity Reduction Act of 2024 with Senators Cory Booker, John Hickenlooper, and Peter Welch. The bill would instruct the National Institutes of Health to expand and coordinate research on nutrition science, including chemicals self-affirmed by manufacturers as GRAS.
“There is a growing awareness in the medical community and in the general public that we cannot continue to allow our kids to be addicted to processed foods, get sick, and die at an earlier age than they otherwise would,” Sanders said. “So the movement is with us. We take on very powerful special interests, but we are gaining every day.”
The GRAS loophole allows food companies to introduce new additives without mandatory FDA review, giving them significant control over what Americans consume. While some additives may be harmless, the sheer volume and lack of oversight raise concerns about public health.
Understanding this system helps consumers make informed choices and highlights the ongoing debate over food regulation and safety.