The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a tool that allows people to see food contaminants. The tool, called the “Chemical Contaminants Transparency Tool,” provides a “consolidated list” of “contaminant levels for poisonous or deleterious substances in human food in various guidance documents and regulations for industry.”
Users of the tool may filter by contaminant type such as toxic elements, mycotoxins, persistent pesticides, radionuclides, and other chemical contaminants.
“HHS is committed to radical transparency to give Americans authentic, informed consent about what they are eating,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “This new Chemical Contaminants Transparency Tool is a critical step for industry to Make America Healthy Again.”
Acting FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner, M.D., M.P.H said that while the ideal is the absence of contaminants in the food supply, contamination occurs when in “growing, storage or processing environments.”
“Because many of the most nutritious foods can also contain contaminants, consumers should eat a variety of nutrient-dense foods across and within the main food groups of vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and protein to help protect from possible exposure effects,” Brenner explained.
The tool is described as an effort to “modernize food chemical safety.”
In February, President Donald Trump created the Make America Healthy Again Commission. The order directed the commission to “advise and assist the President on how best to exercise his authority to address the childhood chronic disease crisis” through a “Make our Children Healthy Again Assessment” and develop a “Make our Children Healthy Again Strategy” to restructure the federal government’s response to childhood diseases.
