In the 1950s, under huge public pressure, the FDA started working with food companies to come up with some sort of a system. Over the course of the subsequent 70 years, companies have increasingly used generally regarded as safe to self-approve new food additives. In 2011, there's an analysis of around 4,200 food additives and 14% were approved by the FDA. 63% were determined as safe by an industry panel of the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association,. 23% were estimated to result from secret grass self-determination by food manufacturers.