In May, the Food and Drug Administration identified the preservative butylated hydroxyanisole, BHA, as a top concern for food additive review. In a statement on Tuesday, Feb. 10, the administration said they plan to initiate a review of the safety of the chemical, which was approved as a GRAS (“generally recognized as safe”) additive in 1958. However, since 1991, the National Toxicology Program has classified the chemical as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”
While BHA used preservative has been on the decline in recent years, it is still prevalent on many grocery shelves, including children’s food. Public health advocacy groups like the Center for Science in the Public Interest have urged consumers for many years to be mindful of products utilizing BHA.
