How the US and Europe Regulate Food Safety

Good morning!

Spring officially arrived last weekend, and with it the vernal equinox. If you tried balancing an egg because someone told you it only works during the equinox, you're not alone. Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to try it myself, so I'll have to wait until next year to verify. Will post results then.

Eggs aside, this week we're talking about how the US and Europe regulate food safety, and why the same product can have completely different ingredients depending on which country you're in. I hope to shed some light on how the US regulates food and compare it to our neighbors in Europe. Let’s dive in.

Key Takeaways

• The US allows food additives unless proven harmful, while Europe requires companies to prove additives are safe before approval.

• The US "generally recognized as safe" system lets companies self-certify ingredient safety without FDA oversight, while Europe requires independent government review before any additive reaches the market.

• These regulatory differences explain why identical products contain different ingredients across borders.

CORE

Two Bags of Skittles

Buy a bag of Skittles in New York, and you're eating titanium dioxide, a whitening agent that makes the candy coating bright and opaque. Buy the same bag in Paris, and you're not. The European version was reformulated in 2022 after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) banned titanium dioxide, concluding that genotoxicity, potential DNA damage, couldn't be ruled out. The FDA reviewed the same studies and decided the evidence wasn't definitive enough. Titanium dioxide remains legal in the US.

This isn't an isolated case, and it’s something that repeats across food additives. The products exist in both markets. The formulations don't match. The question is, why?

The US: Innocent Until Proven Guilty

In the United States, food additives are regulated by the FDA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938. The system operates on a principle similar to criminal law, where substances are presumed safe unless evidence proves otherwise.

This is formalized through GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe). When GRAS was created in 1958, it applied to everyday ingredients like salt, vinegar, and baking soda that had long histories of safe use. And to be honest, the logic made sense. Let’s not waste resources reviewing flour.

But in 1997, the FDA changed the rules. Companies could now determine GRAS status themselves by convening their own expert panels. They could notify the FDA of this determination, or not. Either way, the additive could go directly into food products without the FDA even knowing it exists. 

That said, this system has advantages. It allows beneficial innovations to reach consumers much faster. Plant-based alternatives, probiotic foods, allergen-free formulations can get to market in months rather than years. It keeps regulatory costs and food prices lower. And it avoids banning substances based on preliminary evidence that might later prove unfounded. In other words, it rewards highly for correctly identifying safe ingredients.

But the downsides are significant. According to the Environmental Working Group, 99% of new chemicals introduced into the US food supply between 2000 and 2021 came through GRAS notices rather than FDA review.

What’s more, a study analyzing 403 GRAS notices found companies often used the same small group of experts to make safety determinations, raising obvious conflict-of-interest concerns.

Europe: Guilty Until Proven Innocent

The European Union operates under a precautionary principle. If safety is uncertain, restrict or ban until proven safe. The burden of proof is on the manufacturer, not the regulator.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) conducts independent risk assessments before any additive can be approved. Companies must submit extensive safety data. EFSA reviews it using independent scientific panels with strict conflict-of-interest policies. If EFSA can't confirm safety, the additive doesn't get approved.

Additionally, and this is critical, EFSA systematically re-evaluates approved additives. Starting around 2010, the agency began reviewing every food chemical previously allowed in Europe to determine whether it still meets current safety standards. The US has no equivalent process. If the FDA approved something in 1940, it remains approved indefinitely unless new evidence forces a review.

It is important to note that, although the FDA's regulations don't require periodic re-evaluation, external pressure from the public or other organizations can prompt a review. This happened with synthetic dyes like Red No. 40 and Yellow No. 5, when FDA initiated safety reviews last year. Later, the FDA announced plans to voluntarily phase out these dyes by the end of 2026, though this is a request to industry rather than a mandatory ban.

Where The Additives Hide

As you could have guessed, most of the questionable additives concentrate in brightly colored snacks and candy (synthetic dyes and titanium dioxide), sugary breakfast cereals and packaged baked goods (BHA, BHT, potassium bromate), as well as sodas and processed snacks (synthetic dyes, preservatives).

The pattern is clear, they’re almost always paired with ultra-processed foods designed for shelf life and visual appeal. These foods tend to be nutrient-poor, high in sugar and refined carbs, low in fiber and vitamins. Fresh produce like plain dairy, whole grains, and foods you cook yourself contain virtually none of these additives. So just by avoiding these kinds of foods, you've eliminated the majority of questionable additives from your diet while simultaneously increasing your intake of actual nutrients. That’s a win-win to me!

ENDNOTE

Final Thoughts

You can't control FDA policy, but you can control what you buy and what you eat. Read ingredient labels, prioritize whole foods when possible, and keep doing what you are doing right now: reading about nutrition, understanding how regulations work, staying informed about what's actually in your food.

Until next week!

Adrian Macdonald | Team Dietitian | The 8% Newsletter Author