WASHINGTON – On Monday, a bipartisan group of Pennsylvania state legislators introduced a sweeping package of bills intended to address the safety of food and farm chemicals.
The bills would:
- Require that all new food chemicals, along with scientific support for their safety, get disclosed to state regulators.
- Prohibit the use of synthetic food colors in school food.
- Create a statutory definition of ultra-processed foods.
- Require a separate label to warn consumers of the presence in food of butylated hydroxyanisole, commonly called BHA, which has been linked to cancer.
- Require a separate label warning consumers of the presence of food colors in food.
- Ban the use of paraquat, a pesticide linked to Parkinson’s disease.
- Give farmers new incentives to adopt cover crops, which can improve soil health.
The following is a statement from Scott Faber, the Environmental Working Group’s senior vice president for government affairs:
EWG applauds this bipartisan group of Pennsylvania legislators for ensuring our food is safe. They have taken steps to ensure toxic food colors have no place in school food, and consumers should be warned when they are present in the foods we bring into our homes.
They are also ensuring our farmers and farm workers are protected from paraquat, a dangerous pesticide linked to Parkinson’s disease. Toxic pesticides linked to Parkinson’s have no place on our farms. That’s why 70 countries, including China and Brazil, have banned paraquat.
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The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
