I listened with interest as the media addressed or attacked Robert F. Kennedy’s example of the junk cereal Froot Loops® and the American version having more chemicals than the Canadian version. This topic interested me for a few reasons:
1. The reality that the American food supply is loaded with toxins and detrimental to human health is undeniable. It is concerning that it has taken this long for national attention. This is a damaging testimony to the failure of the medical system to acknowledge the role diet and environmental toxins play in health. It is also a testimony to the influence of the large companies that manufacture the chemicals used in packaged foods and the brands that sell them.
2. When I was a kid, my mother would allow my siblings and me to have junk cereal on Saturday mornings only. The cereal of our choice was Froot Loops! I remember feeling tired and having a slight headache after eating the Fruit Loops. I ate it anyway, as it was the closest thing we got to candy.
When you examine the ingredients of the American Froot Loops on the Kellogg’s website, you will see that in addition to corn flour blend, wheat flour, whole grain oat flour, oat fiber, soluble corn fiber, and added vitamins and minerals:
Different items than the American version include:
I could not find BHT listed in the Canadian Froot Loops. According to a Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety report from the European Commission, BHT is a synthetic antioxidant used in food additives, cosmetic and personal care products, drugs, plastics, rubber, and other petroleum products. The report states it is safe when used at a minimal concentration in mouthwashes but does not address it as a food additive. The commission did note that BHT has endocrine (hormone) disrupting properties. The Canadian government website states that BHT is not harmful to human health at the current level of exposure but is detrimental to the environment.
You can see that the American version has several food dyes and colorings (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1, Yellow 6). There is concern about these artificial agents and their effect on children's behavior, brain and nervous system development, and hormone balance. A 2022 paper published in Environmental Health examined synthetic food dyes' potential impacts on children's activity and attention. The analysis included 27 clinical trials. The paper stated:
These studies support a relationship between food dye exposure and adverse behavioral outcomes in children. Animal toxicology literature provides additional support for effects on behavior. Together, the human clinical trials and animal toxicology literature support an association between synthetic food dyes and behavioral impacts in children.
Why do American Froot Loops have BHT and several synthetic dyes and coloring agents, whereas the Canadian version does not?
When I investigated the Government of Canada regulations on permitted food colors as of December 2024, I found they do not allow synthetic dyes and colorings, such as those in American Froot Loops. This explains why they are not in the Canadian product.
Doing a cost analysis with the products' individual ingredients is challenging. Presumably, the synthetic agents would be cheaper than their natural counterparts.
It is known that more than 10,000 additives are allowed in the American food supply! According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, the FDA allows manufacturers to go to market without a review because an additive is “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS. The agency states:
As a result, companies have determined that an estimated 1,000 chemicals are generally recognized as safe and have used them without notifying the agency. The firms usually use their own employees, consultants, or experts whom they select and pay to make the safety decision with no disclosure or apparent efforts to minimize the inherent conflicts of interest.
Second, the law does not give FDA the authority it needs to efficiently obtain the information necessary to identify chemicals of concern that are already on the market; set priorities to reassess these chemicals; and then complete a review of their safety. Moreover, the agency has not been given the resources it needs to effectively implement the original 1958 law. As a result, FDA has not reevaluated the safety of many chemicals originally approved decades ago, generally rechecking safety only when requested by a company to do so, or when presented with allegations of serious adverse health effects.
If people want to eat junk food, then that is their right. However, Americans should be protected from chemical exposure in the food supply, especially when natural agents can be used. The Canadian Froot Loops' use of food and spice-derived colorings and preservatives is a good example.
It is common sense that synthetic chemicals in the food supply can negatively affect human health. RFK is right to bring attention to the need for reforming this food problem that affects people of all ages. Chronic disease continues to increase in the US, and poor nutrition is acknowledged as a major contributor to acute and chronic health problems. We need to demand better food safety regulations and protect our health.
Miller, M. D., Steinmaus, C., Golub, M. S., Castorina, R., Thilakartne, R., Bradman, A., & Marty, M. A. (2022). Potential impacts of synthetic food dyes on activity and attention in children: a review of the human and animal evidence. Environmental health : a global access science source, 21(1), 45. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-022-00849-9
Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety Opinion on Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT). (2021). https://health.ec.europa.eu
https://smartlabel.kelloggs.com/en_US/Product/Index/00038000017674#ingredients
https://www.wkkellogg.com/products/froot-loops-cereal
https://smartlabel.wkkellogg.com/en_CA/Product/Index?gtin=00064100222205#ingredients
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/chemicals-product-safety/bht.html
