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Bill to create state food‑safety panel on cumulative additives draws industry opposition
Summary
Senate Bill 155 would create a panel to study cumulative exposure to toxic food additives and authorize the Department of Agriculture to restrict ingredients on panel recommendation; agricultural and consumer groups warned the measure duplicates federal oversight and could cost about $1 million annually to enforce.
Senator Daniel Emmerich opened the Jan. 31 hearing on Senate Bill 155, a proposal to create a state food‑safety panel to study the cumulative effect of toxic food additives and to authorize the Montana Department of Agriculture to adopt rules limiting ingredients based on the panel’s recommendations.
Emmerich said the intent is to assess how multiple products containing the same additive could combine to expose consumers to higher levels than a single‑product evaluation would show. ‘‘The issue arises when you have a certain number of those products that are unrelated products, but they have the same toxic additive in them,’’ Emmerich said.
Proponents included tribal food sovereignty advocates who described disproportionate access to processed foods…
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