FDA to Expand Review of Chemical Preservatives Used in Food

The Food and Drug Administration is planning to expand its review of food additives beyond artificial dyes, targeting preservatives and chemicals used as whitening agents and dough conditioners.

The agency will issue an updated list of chemicals that it will evaluate, including the common preservatives butylated hydroxytoluene, or BHT, and butylated hydroxyanisol, or BHA. Azodicarbonamide, or ADA, a whitening agent used in cereal flour and as a dough conditioner, will also be on the list, the agency said in a statement.

In March, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had asked the FDA to explore new regulations ...