And a large percentage of these have never even been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review, which means the general population is essentially being used as a collective guinea pig in a giant food additive safety experiment.

Between 1997 and 2012, the FDA reportedly received 451 voluntary notifications about new food additives, 100 percent of which came from individuals and groups connected in one way or another to the food industry. Rather than be accompanied by independent safety research, every single one of these new additives came with "safety data" conjured by the companies that produce them, a serious conflict of interest that apparently has become the standard rather than the exception.

Researchers from The Pew Charitable Trusts (PCT), a non-profit organization serving the public interest, decided to review data on the new food additive notification process after the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a federal watchdog agency, issued a report back in 2010 raising concerns about it. And what they found is astounding, particularly as it pertains to public health and safety.