As a follow up to my last post, some of you asked for a practical example of how the GRAS standards could affect you. When you read something simple on a food label, like artificial strawberry flavoring, you may be thinking, “oh, it’s only the one little thing that may not be that good for me.” The problem with this is that the one “ingredient” may consist of items that fall under GRAS.

There is a popular fast food chain that has strawberry milkshakes. If you read the ingredients for their shake, you will see artificial strawberry flavoring. If your wondering what you are getting with that shake, here is your list:

• amyl acetate,
• amyl butyrate,
• amyl valerate,
• anethol,
• anisyl formate,
• benzyl acetate,
• benzyl isobutyrate,
• butyric acid,
• cinnamyl isobutyrate,
• cinnamyl valerate,
• cognac essential oil,
• diacetyl,
• dipropyl ketone,
• ethyl acetate,
• ethyl amyl ketone,
• ethyl butyrate,
• ethyl cinnamate,
• ethyl heptanoate,
• ethyl heptylate,
• ethyl lactate,
• ethyl methylphenylglycidate,
• ethyl nitrate,
• ethyl propionate,
• ethyl valerate,
• heliotropin,
• hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone (10 percent solution in alcohol),
• a-ionone,
• isobutyl anthranilate,
• isobutyl butyrate,
• lemon essential oil,
• maltol,
• 4-methylacetophenone,
• methyl anthranilate,
• methyl benzoate,
• methyl cinnamate,
• methyl heptine carbonate,
• methyl naphthyl ketone,
• methyl salicylate,
• mint essential oil,
• neroli essential oil,
• nerolin,
• neryl isobutyrate,
• orris butter,
• phenethyl alcohol,
• rose,
• rum ether,
• g-undecalactone,
• vanillin, and
• solvent.

That’s 49 ingredients for the price of 1…WHAT A DEAL!!!!

Here’s the bad news: it can be real bad! The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has a category of food additives that they call Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS). My favorite part when you read about GRAS is this sentence:

GRAS or prior-sanctioned status does not guarantee a substance’s safety. Sometimes new evidence shows that a substance may not be as safe as it was commonly thought to be. If new data suggests that a substance under either of these categories may be unsafe, the FDA may take action to remove the substance from food products or require the manufacturer to conduct studies to evaluate the newly raised concern.

The FDA also allows the food manufacturers to alert them to a new GRAS status of a substance and provide the support for their claim. In other words, I give you something to ingest and then get you the evidence, from my own research that I conduct, to let you know it’s safe. Haven’t we already heard this coming from Big Tobacco! The FDA GRAS list is quite long and has many different categories under it.

If you want to know more about GRAS, read the FDA GRAS Industry guide FAQ sheet. Maybe it’s me, but I see some deception possibly happening here. Read and let me know what you think. Maybe you’ll get the warm and fuzzies from it… or maybe that’s the acetaldehyde, irritating the mucus membrane lining your entire digestive system, that is on the GRAS list!