Remember Kellogg’s stinky cereal we wrote about last month? A few weeks after recalling millions of boxes due to a strange odor coming from the packaging, the company announced the reason: a petroleum based chemical, methylnaphthalene, was used in excess in the waxy liner of the plastic package holding the cereal inside the cardboard box.

Kellogg’s took the necessary measures to resolve the issue and the cereal lines are back in full production. But, as we learn from FoodNavigator, an industry newsletter, Kellogg’s European manufacturing plants did not encounter the same problem, because the company does not use methylnaphthalene in its plants in the region.

Why?

The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) said the chemical is not used by the region’s paper sector. At European level there are positive lists of authorised substances only for a limited number of materials, said an official from the European Commission. read more…

Get it? In Europe, a susbstance must be proven safe before it can be put in food or used for packaging. Here in the US, it’s just the opposite – use it until someone can prove it is not safe.  In Europe, at the very least, products with controversial or questinable ingredients are labeled as such.

That’s why Europe now has warning labels on products with artificial colors.

That’s why GMO products are rarely used in the UK. (Product label must declare genetically modified organisms).

That’s why many identical products have different formulations in Europe.

The food corporations will explain that the reason is variation in local tastes, and procurement issues. But the truth is that regulators in Europe are doing a better job than their American counterparts in protecting consumers.

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