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Why doesn’t the government know what’s in your food? Because industry can declare on their own that added ingredients are safe. It’s all thanks to a loophole in a 57-year-old law that allows food manufacturers to circumvent the approval process by regulators. This means companies can add substances to their food without ever consulting the Food and Drug Administration about potential health risks. Animation by: Phillip Allen. Produced by: Eleanor Bell, Jared Bennett, Erin Quinn & Chris Young. Read the video transcript.


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Jared Bennett is a deputy editor and reporter covering criminal justice and economic justice for the...