US FDA announces online database to track food contaminants

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

(Reuters) -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday launched an online searchable database listing contaminant levels in human foods, reflecting Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ongoing efforts to reduce chemicals in food since taking office.

The FDA said if a food product has contaminants exceeding established levels, the agency may find the food to be unsafe. However, it added these levels do not represent “permissible levels of contamination”.

The Health Secretary has often stressed reducing chemicals in food and, in the previous week, directed the FDA to revise safety rules to help eliminate a provision allowing companies to self-affirm food ingredient safety.

RFK Jr. also told food companies in a meeting earlier this month that the Trump administration wanted artificial dyes out of the food supply before Kennedy leaves office.

The FDA said it is establishing an online database called “Chemical Contaminants Transparency Tool” to provide a list of contaminant levels called “tolerances, action levels and guidance levels” to evaluate the potential health risks of these contaminants in human foods.

“Ideally there would be no contaminants in our food supply, but chemical contaminants may occur in food when they are present in the growing, storage or processing environments,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner.

The online database also provides information such as the contaminant name, commodity and contaminant level type.

The FDA will continue to monitor the food supply by testing foods through several different programs, the agency said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)