The FDA may outlaw certain food additives but permit them until the manufacturer can sell their inventory.

The United States government has at least two agencies specifically charged with protecting our health in terms of medication, food, and the environment: the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. Unfortunately, recent decisions by federal courts have limited the powers of these agencies and left us on our own to determine, sometimes, where we are in danger and how corporations may act in terms of their business models.

Another concern has been raised because a German consumer group found mineral oils in famous chocolate products. Mineral oil mixes are made up of aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) and saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH). MOSH can cause cancer. This oil may also be in some American candy products. Read the ingredients list carefully before you eat any of them. Even some candies you think may be safe and without mineral oil contain it.

Currently, our most recent concern applies to certain food products and the additives that may be used in their manufacture. Specifically, most of these products are beverages meant for hydration or health.

A new FDA ruling aims to eliminate a specific type of ingredient that has been used for many decades as a substitute for a previous ingredient. Citing safety concerns, the FDA has removed permission to use brominated vegetable oil, a popular food additive in sodas and sports drinks.

Although it was previously approved for use as a stabilizer and emulsifier in some fruit-flavored drinks to keep the citrus taste from floating to the top, brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is a type of vegetable oil that has been replaced with bromine. BVO could be used in small amounts, up to 15 parts per million. Labels had to say that a product uses BVO. However, the FDA decided that the planned use of BVO in food is no longer thought to be safe after evaluating studies.

According to research, BVO can build up in the body and harm health, especially the nervous system. Drinking something with BVO over a long period of time can cause headaches, skin and mucous membrane irritation, tiredness, and problems with memory and muscle coordination.

One note of caution must be made here. Corporations are being permitted to continue selling products that contain BVO until they have exhausted their current inventory. This means that these products will effectively be on store shelves for at least another year, and consumers are advised to carefully read the ingredient list on the labels.

But health-concerning ingredients are not confined to sodas and sports drinks because California has recently initiated action to limit certain ingredients in other types of foods. These food products include hamburger buns (potassium bromate), orange soda (brominated vegetable oil), candy, and corn tortillas are all made with chemicals that California is not allowing. Other states are considering similar legislation, but there is some pushback on these changes.

Consumer Reports and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) have co-sponsored a bill currently being discussed in the California State Assembly. If passed, this bill would stop five chemicals from being added to food and drinks offered in the state. It could also affect people all over the country.

To find out if a soda has BVO, you must first look at the ingredient list, which must say if the drink has BVO. It will say “Brominated vegetable oil” or “brominated” and a type of oil, like soybean.

The FDA is concerned about not only our food additives but also prescription medications, such as the new weight-loss drugs that are receiving great attention and now cause some concern. What is the concern?

No, this isn’t a time to panic, but everyone needs to give serious consideration to weight-loss drug use should you be diabetic. According to a study from Harvard, people with diabetes who were given semaglutide, which is also sold under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic, were more than four times more likely to be diagnosed with naion, an eye disease.

People with this disease often lose their sight suddenly in one eye, and they do not feel any pain. They start to lose vision in that eye as soon as they wake up. Once it happens, the vision loss rarely gets much better or worse. It stays about the same.

If you have naion, the arteries that bring blood to the optic nerve in your eye do not get enough oxygen. This can damage the optic nerve and cause people to lose their sight. The condition, which affects 10 out of every 100,000 people, has no known cure.

Patients with diabetes who were taking semaglutide have a higher chance of getting this type of optic neuropathy than patients who were not taking a GLP-1 drug, as shown over the course of almost three years of follow-up.

While foods and medications are receiving more attention, we mustn't forget that one area, cosmetic or hygiene–related products, are poorly regulated and do not come under the usual regulations of the FDA. This means that some of these products may contain dangerous metals or asbestos. However, consumers would have difficulty discerning what was safe and what was questionable if they looked at the list of ingredients on those products.

The only regulation that seems to apply is that the amount of each item is listed in the order of its weight when added to the formula. Therefore, many products will list water as the first ingredient since much of it is made up of water, and other ingredients are in lesser amounts.

A recent and unexpected study finding was in feminine sanitary products, a.k.a. tampons. Toxic metals like arsenic and lead have been found in tampons, which are used by more than half of women who have periods.

Scientists examined 30 tampons of 14 different types and tested them for 16 metals: arsenic, barium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, strontium, vanadium, and zinc. Metals can get into your body when you use a tampon. All 16 metals were found in at least one tampon sampled by researchers. Some of the metals were toxic, like lead, which has no “safe” amount of exposure.

Consumers who are health conscious and even those who aren't that concerned must give renewed consideration to everything they put onto or into their bodies. Your health and your life depend on it.