How many times have you heard the old adage? We live in a world where processed foods and additives are a constant on countless American shelves and ingredient lists can look like glossaries in complex research papers.

The food that you put into your body directly impacts your health, but many of us might not grasp what a massive role food regulations play in determining both the safety and quality of what we eat.

Think of the food regulator as an invisible hand that guides what ends up on our plates, and ultimately, in our bodies.

As a result, the action or inaction of these regulators can have major knock-on effects on the American healthcare system, as eating harmful or improperly tested additives could cause health problems.

Those already in the healthcare system, perhaps through direct entry MSN programs, will be all too familiar with the consequences of some of the additives lurking on American shelves, so we’ll be looking at a comparison between our food standards and those of the European Union (EU) and what this means for the average American.

This comparison brings to light the potential health impacts of commonly used additives, especially those banned in other countries. It’s essential to understand these differences to make informed food choices that may promote better long-term health.

For healthcare professionals, such knowledge can also provide valuable insights when advising patients on diet and nutrition.

Let’s Understand Food Standards

Food regulations or standards are a set of criteria that ensure everything edible on a grocery store shelf meets a certain level of safety, quality, and nutritional value. These guidelines exist to make sure food is safe to consume and won’t make you sick, which is exactly what you’d expect when buying something to eat.

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The scope of some of these food regulations is quite broad and can cover what gets added to food to preserve flavor and enhance taste, or how food is labeled. Everyone’s heard of the sneaky trick to make a serving size half a cookie to make their nutritional information look better!

Standards also limit contaminants that can be seriously hazardous to health, like pesticides, heavy metals, and microorganisms.

Standards don’t just affect what is on the shelves, either – they’re also important in food production facilities, so companies have to disclose potential allergens and ensure that their factories are clean and sanitary to prevent any sort of contamination.

The goals here are simple, despite the laundry list of jobs that regulators have to do: protect people’s health, prevent fraud, and promote fair trade practices.

There are international organizations like the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization that provide general guidelines, but countries generally have their own regulators to ensure that food is up to their own standards.

Food Regulation in the U.S.

There are 3 major players in the regulation industry in the States. Firstly, one you’ve definitely heard of: The Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA.

They oversee the safety of foods generally, including processed foods, dietary supplements, and bottled water. Their major responsibility is ensuring standards are set and met for food labeling, additives, and packaging, and ensuring the enforcement of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

The FSMA was put into place in 2011 and shifted the previous legislation’s emphasis from responding to contamination toward strengthening food standards by requiring companies involved in food processing to take further steps to prevent foodborne illness.

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Secondly, the United States Department of Agriculture, or the USDA for short, is responsible for the safety of meat, poultry, and processed egg products, and you’ve probably seen their logo on a prime cut of steak.

They have a Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) that inspects processing plants and sets standards to ensure the quality of these animal-based products.

Finally, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for limiting pesticide residues and other nasties that can end up in food or drinking water.

All of these agencies regulate different parts of the American food industry, but all have very important roles in ensuring public safety and maintaining consumer trust in what makes it to the shelves.

Despite comprehensive regulations, however, a common criticism of the American food safety system is that it is reactive rather than proactive, and has work to do beyond the introduction of the FSMA to ensure that consumers aren’t getting sick.

Let’s Look at the EU

The European Union is known for its strict regulations and red tape in comparison to other places around the world, so it should come as no surprise that the EU has far more restrictions on what is allowed in food than we do here in the States.

Food regulators in the EU apply precautionary principles, meaning that where there are doubts surrounding the safety of a substance, food, additive, or practice, they will be banned or heavily regulated until it can be proven that it is safe to consume or use.

The American risk-based approach to food standards can sometimes allow harmful substances into the market, only to be retrospectively recalled, which is not beneficial for public health overall.

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Artificial colors and flavors are some of the most common food additives on the shelves in the U.S., but some tried-and-tested American classics like smoke flavoring along with other preservatives and flavor enhancers are not allowed in the EU, where regulators cite concerns over potential health effects.

When they are allowed to be sold, warning labels are required so European consumers are aware of the potential health risks of drinking or eating food that is freely available in supermarkets.

Another major difference is in hormone and antibiotics use in livestock intended for consumption in the EU. Hormone use in beef production is completely banned, but the U.S. continues to permit their use under regulated conditions by the USDA.

Antibiotics are more strictly controlled due to concerns about the development of antibiotic-resistant diseases, but in the U.S., they are so widely available that they are used in promoting the growth of animals as well as for the prevention and treatment of disease.

U.S. Food Standards Need an Upgrade

Public health should be at the heart of any conversation about food regulations and standards, as what we eat should be determined by experts to ensure that something widely available in grocery stores isn’t going to cause major health issues later on in life.

The U.S. has a robust system in place to make sure that standards are met, but compared to the EU, these standards are lacking, which could have wider implications for the long-term health of Americans based on diet.

Global food systems are constantly evolving and growing, and regulatory agencies must commit to changing with the times to make sure that the food available to us is safe and healthy.