The American diet has changed dramatically since 1958, when Congress gave the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to ensure the safety of chemicals in food. Since then, thousands of chemicals have entered the food system. Yet their long-term, chronic effects have been woefully understudied, their health risks inadequately assessed. The FDA has been sluggish in considering scientific knowledge about the impact of exposures—particularly at low levels and during susceptible developmental stages. The agency’s failure to adequately account for the risks of perchlorate—a well-characterized endocrine-disrupting chemical—to vulnerable populations is representative of systemic problems plaguing the regulation of chemicals in food. Today, we are faced with a regulatory system that, weakened by decades of limited resources, has fallen short of fully enforcing its mandates. The FDA’s inability to effectively manage the safety of hundreds of chemicals is putting our children’s health at risk.

自1958年国会授予美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）权力以确保食品中化学物质的安全以来，美国饮食已发生了翻天覆地的变化。从那以后，成千上万种化学药品进入了食品系统。然而，他们的长期，长期影响却被严重研究不足，其健康风险未得到充分评估。FDA在考虑有关暴露影响的科学知识方面一直表现迟钝，尤其是在低水平和易感性发育阶段。该机构未能充分考虑高氯酸盐（一种特征明确的内分泌干扰化学物质）对弱势人群的风险，这是困扰食品中化学物质监管的系统性问题的代表。如今，我们面临着一个监管系统，该系统由于数十年有限的资源而变得脆弱，未能充分执行其任务。FDA无法有效管理数百种化学药品的安全性正使我们的孩子的健康受到威胁。