I don't know enough to speak effectively to the overall point, but the banned food additive list and is only a microscopic portion of what food regulators do
As an European, I think the obscene amount of lobbying we allow to happen around EU institutions is something that makes "European democracy is just as bad" sound reasonable.
The politics of Italy, the UK, France, Germany, Hungary, and others all seem close to or worse than the current state of American politics. The only difference is that the US wields a lot more global influence and has no neighbors powerful enough to keep it in check (sorry Canada and Mexico, I still love you). Europe is not doing enough to prevent the spread of its own far-right/neofascist groups and the inevitable erosion of human rights.
But their regulations are more strict overall. There are a lot of US foods can't be imported without reformulating the product.
Which fascist did whatever EU country vote for this term?
Bruh, we literally just elected a fascist felon who tried to overthrow the government when he lost the last time who openly surrounded himself with fascists pushing project 2025. It's not even a close challenge...
The democracy in the USA is bad because you have a two-party system, meaning that there's barely any choice. In the Netherlands, we have a whole bunch of political parties that share space in Parliament, so that representation is proportional to the votes.
As a result, we have both the PVV and GL-PvdA in Parliament; one is very right on most subjects, the other is pretty leftist.