The consumer groups Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, and others sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Gottlieb this week, objecting to the FDA's denial of a petition to remove perchlorate from food packaging. The denial was issued on May 4, 2017. Those groups claim that the FDA ignored evidenced that shows the compound disrupts brain development in infants and children. The FDA was sued by those groups to force them to act on the petition in April of 2016. Perchlorate is used in herbicides, explosives, and rocket fuel. Those groups say that the FDA's own data shows that the chemical migrates from packaging into food. Perchlorate is added to packaging to reduce the buildup of static. The letter states that "The serious flaws in the agency’s legal and … [Read more...]