Ron Johnson says ingredients in American food should be investigated, may be tied to chronic illness

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Thursday that the ingredients in American food need to be investigated, as they may have a tie to America's chronic illness epidemic. 

Earlier this year, Johnson hosted a panel titled "American Health & Nutrition: A Second Opinion," where a variety of witnesses testified about increased childhood obesity, processed food, Big Pharma, and the state of agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration. 

Johnson explained that in foods such as "Froot Loops," the American brand has different ingredients than brands in countries like the United Kingdom and Canada. 

"We allow them [ingredients] in based on what they call GRAS, 'generally recognized as safe,'" Johnson said. "So we have 10,000 'generally recognized as safe' ingredients. Europe approves food ingredients. They have 400.

"So somewhere in those 9,600 additional ingredients, there might be some that are contributing to chronic illness or other other harms," he continued. 

Johnson said he hopes to assist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who President-elect Donald Trump nominated to lead the Health and Human Services Department, with investigating what is causing chronic illness in the U.S.

He said that the USDA, Big Food and Big Agriculture don't want the public to know the source of chronic illness because "from the pharmaceutical standpoint, chronically ill patients are profitable patients."