the US is still ranked THIRD safest in the world for food

I find that very hard to believe. The food safety in the USA is a joke. The FDA has laughable standards for what is allowed in our food compared to the European Union.

The chemical azodicarbonamide (ADA) is banned in food in Europe because it breaks down when heated into semicarbazide, which causes toxicity in animal studies and urethane, a potential human carcinogen. This chemical is used in bread in America to generate those nice, uniform little bubbles in baked bread. Note, baked. American bread is filled with a chemical shown to be toxic in animals and a potential human carcinogen. Why?

The case of ADA is not an isolated incident but rather a symptom of a broader difference in food safety philosophy between the US and EU. This fundamental difference extends far beyond a single additive and is deeply rooted in each region's regulatory framework.

In the US, the FDA's approach is rooted in a 1958 legislation that introduced the "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS) status for food additives.

Originally intended for common ingredients like vinegar or salt—which are also used as additivies—GRAS now allows manufacturers to bypass the FDA's rigorous approval process for many additives. They can assemble their own expert panel to assess safety and send the results to FDA. Important note: sending this is completely voluntary.

The US allows corporations to regulate themselves, declare an additive safe, and put it in our food without going through any approval process. Since no one has proved these chemicals harmful to people, the FDA accepts the manufacturers opinion that it is safe to use.

Who has ranked American food 3rd safest and how did they come to that conclusion. This is an extraordinary claim and I can find no evidence to support it by searching. The closest I can find is this study which is from 2012, more than 14 years ago and long before Trump gutted American food safety agencies. There is no chance in hell this information applies now.