Editing Trade secret (section)

== Public safety ==
=== United States ===
The [[Freedom of Information Act]] of 1966 (FOIA), which requires federal agencies to provide documents to the public on request, includes a discretionary exemption for trade secrets.<ref name="jama">{{Cite journal |last1=Daval |first1=C. Joseph Ross |last2=Kesselheim |first2=Aaron S. |date=2024-07-22 |title=The Origins of "Confidential Commercial Information" at the FDA |url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2821289 |journal=JAMA |volume=332 |issue=7 |pages=533–534 |doi=10.1001/jama.2024.9639 |pmid=39037797 |issn=0098-7484}}</ref> Thus, trade secret regulations can mask the composition of chemical agents in [[consumer product]]s, which has long been criticized for allowing the trade secret holders to hide the presence of potentially harmful and [[Toxicity|toxic substances]]. It has been argued that the public is being denied a clear picture of such products' safety, whereas competitors are well positioned to analyze its chemical composition.<ref name="fitzgerald">{{cite book|author=Randall Fitzgerald|author-link=Randall Fitzgerald|title=[[The Hundred Year Lie]]|year=2006|publisher=[[Dutton Penguin|Dutton]], 2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/hundredyearlieho00fitz/page/24 24]|isbn=0-525-94951-8}}</ref> In 2004, the National Environmental Trust tested 40 common consumer products; in more than half of them they found toxic substances not listed on the [[product label]].<ref name="fitzgerald" />