How Sketchy Chemicals Like Red No. 3 End Up In U.S. Food

The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, is responsible for regulating food and health-related products to ensure they’re safe for public health. But experts say a legal loophole has allowed companies to include chemical additives that could be potentially dangerous to consumers’ health—without the FDA even knowing. Meanwhile, Americans are buying more products with additives. A study found that 59.5% of foods purchased by U.S. households contained some sort of additive—an increase of nearly 20% since 2001. So how are companies getting away with adding potentially dangerous additives to America’s food supply? And can anything be done to stop it? Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 1:46 Legal loophole 6:51 Haphazard post-market review 8:31 Impact and solution Produced by: Juhohn Lee Animation: Andrea Schmitz Senior Director of Video: Jeniece Pettitt Additional Footage: Getty Images