{"id":7737,"date":"2018-04-25T07:24:15","date_gmt":"2018-04-25T12:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/?p=7737"},"modified":"2019-12-04T13:49:51","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T18:49:51","slug":"fda-new-push-heavy-metals-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2018\/04\/25\/fda-new-push-heavy-metals-food\/","title":{"rendered":"FDA details its new push on heavy metals in food"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/people\/tom-neltner\"><em>Tom Neltner, J.D.<\/em><\/a><em>,<\/em> Chemicals Policy Director, and Maricel Maffini, Ph.D., Independent Consultant<\/p>\n<p>In May 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Nutrition (CFSAN) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/Food\/FoodborneIllnessContaminants\/Metals\/ucm557424.htm\">announced<\/a> it had \u201cestablished a Toxic Elements Working Group whose mission in part is to develop a strategy for prioritizing and modernizing the Center\u2019s activities with respect to food\/toxic element combinations using a risk-based approach.\u201d FDA set a goal of limiting lead \u201cto the greatest extent feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In April 2018, FDA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/food\/foodborneillnesscontaminants\/metals\/ucm604173.htm\">released an interview<\/a> with the Working Group\u2019s chair, Conrad Choiniere, providing an update on its activities. An overarching point expressed by Choiniere during the interview is that \u201cthese metals [lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury] can have effects on children\u2019s neurological development.\u201d This affirmation of scientific evidence is a welcome sign from the agency. FDA\u2019s key statements are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Initial scope:<\/strong> Children\u2019s exposure to \u201cmetals like lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury in foods, cosmetics, and dietary supplements.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Approach:<\/strong> \u201cLooking at all the metals across all foods rather than one contaminant, one food at a time.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Initial findings:<\/strong> \u201cEven though the level of a metal in any particular food is low, our overall exposure adds up because many of the foods we eat contain them in small amounts.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Next steps:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cFinalizing the draft guidance that sets an action-level for the presence of inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereals and apple juice.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cBegin reevaluating the specific lead levels that FDA has set for a variety of foods.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>A week later, CFSAN Director Susan Mayne released a statement on arsenic in rice, in response to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/products\/GAO-18-199\">Government Accountability Office report<\/a> on FDA\u2019s efforts to protect children, especially infants. She committed to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Updating FDA\u2019s 2016 risk assessment for arsenic in rice products if there is any new and evolving science that would impact its conclusions; and<\/li>\n<li>Finalizing the guidance establishing an action level for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal by the end of 2018.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>EDF is pleased to see FDA focusing on the cumulative effect of these four heavy metals on children\u2019s brain development and reiterating its commitment to reduce exposures to the greatest extent possible. From our <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2017\/12\/18\/updated-lead-food-testing\/\">analysis of recent test results from FDA\u2019s Total Diet Study<\/a> and of a common ingredient such as <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2018\/04\/06\/heavy-metals-in-food-carrageenan\/\">carrageenan<\/a>, we think there are significant opportunities for progress. While industry is increasingly stepping up to tackle this challenge, having health-protective guidance from FDA is crucial.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tom Neltner, J.D., Chemicals Policy Director, and Maricel Maffini, Ph.D., Independent Consultant In May 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Nutrition (CFSAN) announced it had \u201cestablished a Toxic Elements Working Group whose mission in part is to develop a strategy for prioritizing and modernizing the Center\u2019s activities with &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69548,"featured_media":7738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,114082,114106,39263],"tags":[91633,107174,107191,39158,106376],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-7737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fda","category-food","category-lead","category-public-health","tag-fda","tag-heavy-metals","tag-heavy-metals-in-food","tag-lead","tag-lead-in-food"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7737"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=7737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}