Proposed Senate Bill 9 Would Ban Toxic Substances from Food
Jan 12, 2025
A bill called the “Make Arkansas Healthy Again Act” is being sponsored by Senator B. Davis and Representative Pilkington. This bill will prohibit foods containing any of the following substances: potassium bromate, propylparaben, and erythrosine. The penalty for violation of this act is not more than $5000 for the first violation and not more than $10,000 for each subsequent violation.
In October 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law banning these same substances, as well as brominated vegetable oil. On July 2, 2024, the FDA announced their long-overdue decision that they have revoked the use of brominated vegetable oil in foods and beverages in the United States, effective August 2, 2024. This probably explains why brominated vegetable oil is not included on SB9.
Potassium bromate (KBrO3) is made up of potassium, bromine, and oxygen. It is added to bread dough and other baked goods to improve the texture. According to documentation published by WHO in 2023, potassium bromate is toxic and caused cancer in rats. It is not allowed in foods in the European Union, Canada, Brazil, or China. Bromate is not a natural molecule. Bromine by itself is toxic in high amounts, but it is a trace mineral that is required by animals to make collagen. I looked at bread for sale on Kroger’s website, and I did not find any bread containing potassium bromate.
Propylparaben is a chemical that has been used for more than 75 years as a preservative in water-based cosmetics and in foods. It is easily absorbed both orally and topically. Many studies were done which concluded that propylparaben does not cause cancers or harm to fetuses. The problem with propylparaben is that it may have estrogenic effects in tissues. I read a 2008 paper about parabens which found intact paraben esters in breast cancer tissue. They confirmed that these paraben esters were present by measuring them in urine also. Now there are new concerns that parabens are endocrine disruptors and may possibly contribute to causing cancer. Paraben esters are a whole group of parabens. There are several other parabens which are also used in foods and cosmetics which have similar properties. I am happy that there is a proposed ban on propylparaben in our food and beverages, but what about cosmetics? Studies have shown that parabens absorb through the skin too. If wondered if the food and cosmetic industry would just replace propylparaben with a different paraben with similar effects if propylparaben is banned, but that doesn’t appear to be happening. I looked on several different retail websites for products containing propylparaben. I found pages a few years old showing many parabens in sunscreen, but current products are advertising “paraben free” on the labels. It appears that manufacturers are already taking action to remove propylparaben and other parabens from both food and cosmetics.
Erythrosine is also known as Red #3. Do you remember health class where they taught us to brush our teeth well, and then gave us red tablets to take home and chew up after we brushed so we could look at our pink teeth in the mirror and see all the areas we missed? That was erythrosine. It is also used in candy, popsicles, and cake icing. In 1990 the FDA banned erythrosine in cosmetics after it was found to cause thyroid cancer in rats that were fed high doses. But it’s still okay with the FDA if we eat it. A 2020 study revealed that it caused neural tube defects (brain and spinal cord problems) in early stage chicken embryos. I did find products containing Erythrosine, as is shown in the photo (Red #3). When erythrosine is banned, I think Red #40 will likely be used instead. A quick search of Pub Med returned an article published in 2012 stating that “all of the nine currently US-approved dyes raise health concerns of varying degrees.” The authors, Sarah Kobylewski and Michael F. Jacobson, concluded, “The inadequacy of much of the testing and the evidence for carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, and hypersensitivity, coupled with the fact that dyes do not improve the safety or nutritional quality of foods, indicates that all of the currently used dyes should be removed from the food supply and replaced, if at all, by safer colorings. It is recommended that regulatory authorities require better and independent toxicity testing, exercise greater caution regarding continued approval of these dyes, and in the future approve only well-tested, safe dyes.”
There are many artificial chemicals in our food and cosmetics. Whenever we consume chemicals that are not natural, usually these chemicals cannot be used in our biochemical pathways. That means that we must remove them from our bodies. This is done via the kidneys or the liver. Detoxification pathways require chemical energy, in the form of ATP, to perform the detoxification steps to eliminate toxins. Inability to detoxify chemicals leads to cancers and other diseases. I’m happy that the legislature is considering banning these three chemicals, but there are many more chemicals that need to be banned in addition to these. Until that happens, we have few choices. We can pretend these issues don’t exist and poison ourselves, or we can learn to read labels and vote with our dollars. If we stop buying these products, then the manufacturers who put the unwanted items in products will get the message or go out of business. The Environmental Working Group has a website that helps consumers figure out what is in products and whether or not they wish to use the product. Their website is https://www.ewg.org. It is easy to look up ingredients to see what they are and whether or not current research has determined if they are toxic. A healthier option is to try to buy minimally processed foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and meats, which naturally do not contain added chemicals.
Would be a great step in the right direction! I just wish I had known about all the poisons in our food sooner. It wasn’t until RFK jr. that we finally started paying attention.