Sarah Gonzalez

Okay.

99% of chemicals in our food right now were added this way through the grass loophole rather than the whole long review process.

These chemicals are used in cookies, chocolate, smoked fish, sausages, tea bags, marinades, protein drinks, coffee, popcorn, seeds.

Melanie's team has looked at new ingredients added to our food over 24 years.

There have been around 900 new chemicals added, okay?

And only 10 went to the FDA for approval.

The loophole swallowed the law.

I mean, this all sounds not the safest for consumers, but I'm 38 years old.

I've been eating food my whole life.

nothing's ever happened to me that I know of.

Is grass kind of okay because people are not getting sick left, right, and center?

Yeah, but the FDA doesn't have the capacity to look under everyone's hoods.

The FDA essentially admitted this back in the 90s when they basically like formally okayed the loophole and in the process drew attention to a loophole to the loophole.

We'll call this secret door number three or secret grass.

So in door number two, you technically notify the FDA, even if you end up ignoring their concerns.

For secret door number three, you don't tell the FDA anything ever.

They don't have a chance to voice any concerns.

You just introduce your brand new chemical and secretly, without even notifying the FDA, add it to food.

A company might choose the secret grass route over the out-in-the-open grass route to, like, protect their trade secrets, maybe.

Remember that terra flower sprinkled onto the lentil crumbles, the one that 42 people lost their gallbladders over?