A lot of the mistrust & confusion is legitimate
A lot of the mistrust over additives and public confusion over what foods are actually healthy is legitimate, said Laura MacCleery, policy director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
“There are a lot of ways that companies have treated the clean label programme as a marketing programme rather than foregrounded in public health.”
Some mistrust stems from the way food safety is regulated in the US. MacCleery slammed the practice of companies self-determining which additives are Generally Recognised As Safe (GRAS) as “indefensible”.
“You cannot stand up in public and say ‘We are a company, we decided this was safe and we put it in food without telling the FDA or the public the basis for our safety determination. You should just trust us.”
