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Pizza from Italy, shawarmas from Türkiye, paella from Spain—for centuries, human beings have scoured the globe, discovering new food sources and cooking methods. Over time, cultural dissimilarities have created diverging pathways for the evolution of food in different regions of the world. This is why Indians consume large quantities of rice, while Italians eat pasta–not an excuse as to why Fanta in the United States is ten shades brighter than its European counterpart, or why according to the EU, our per capita consumption of high fructose corn syrup is three times higher than it is in Europe. Despite offering many benefits to its citizenry, America falls short when it comes to food and nutrition. Through loose regulations, the American food industry contributes greatly to increasing health issues within its population, providing its citizens with a diet full of overly processed foods and unnecessary additives. 

The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, was created in 1906 to address food safety concerns in the United States, but is not currently upholding its responsibility to the American people. Under current FDA policy, several harmful additives and hormones are freely allowed in American food, such as rBST, Potassium Bromate, Olestra, and Azodicarbonamide, all of which have been linked to detrimental health effects. Potassium Bromate in particular has been under recent controversy for its role as a potential carcinogen, posing a serious threat to American wellbeing by being present in over 100 products in the food market, such as bagels, tortillas, pizza dough, and English muffins. In addition to letting health detractors such as these fly under the radar, the FDA enables further damage through its policies on new and emerging food additives. Currently, new additives must be authorized by the FDA in order to be used in the food industry. However, as long as the additive is accorded GRAS(generally recognized as safe) status, which can be determined by the producer alone, it is free to be used in the market, meaning that profit-driven industrialists can easily endanger the American people’s health. And this is just the tip of the iceberg–the FDA has fallen behind in many other aspects, such as enforcing better allergen labeling and testing new ingredients. Due to a combination of these regulations and clever food marketing techniques that encourage unhealthy choices, the US diet currently sits at an eleven on a scale of 0 to 100(with zero being the lowest) on a dietary quality index, a shockingly low ranking for one of the most prosperous nations in the world. 

By contrast, the EFSA(European Food Safety Union), which regulates the food industry in the 27 countries composing the EU, does a much better job of controlling what its citizens eat. 

In fact, only 1 in 6 citizens in the EU are obese, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, whereas in America, that number is closer to 1 in 2.5. The EFSA implements stricter regulations and food standards, noticeably banning rBST, Potassium Bromate, Olestra, and Azodicarbonamide as well as several other dangerous additives and hormones allowed in American foods. The FDA should seriously consider modeling reforms after the example of the EFSA. Doing so would greatly increase the nutritional value of the US diet by removing many of the harmful additives rampant in the US food industry, significantly raising American food quality. Additionally, the current, lax policies of the FDA have aided greatly in the rise of lifestyle diseases in America(an estimated 133 million Americans suffer from a chronic disease according to the American Hospital Association)—however, adopting a stricter and more health-conscious approach to food regulation like the EFSA does would lower these rates, leading to an overall healthier nation. 

If the current food crisis isn’t taken seriously, lifestyle disease rates will continue to grow and the US citizenry will keep being exposed to harmful carcinogens and unregulated additives. It is in the best interest of the country, therefore, to follow the example of the EU and tighten FDA regulations to protect the health and wellness of the citizens of America. After all, it is the FDA alone that has the power to turn our neon, radioactive orange Fanta into the yellow colored, naturally flavored version instead.