Sunday, March 6, 2011

But the packaging said it was healthy...

The FDA has certain restrictions on how food can be labeled. This helps protect consumer from being manipulated into buying what they think could be healthy but in fact is not. Below is an article I found on companies misusing the word "Fresh" on packaging. (Bold emphasis added by me.)

You can find more information on FDA labeling restrictions at FDA.gov

Several food manufacturers removed the word "fresh" from their products this spring, marking advances in FDA's on going effort to enforce its rules on proper food labeling.
The first two products targeted by FDA, Citrus Hill Fresh Choice orange juice and Ragu Fresh Italian pasta sauce, are both heat processed. The juice is reconstituted from concentrate, while the pasta sauce contains tomato paste. Labeling the products "fresh" is misleading, FDA said.
On April 26, the manufacturer of Citrus Hill, Procter & Gamble Co., of Ohio, agreed to change its orange juice label and remove the word "fresh," after FDA inspectors, accompanied by a U.S. marshal, seized a shipment of the product on April 24 from a warehouse in Minneapolis, Minn.
FDA had repeatedly warned Procter & Gamble to amend the labeling, but the company refused to comply. Since 1963, FDA has not allowed the term "fresh" on commercially processed orange juices. In 1969, it ruled that "fresh" could not describe any food that had been heated or chemically processed.
"The food label must be truthful," said FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler, M.D., when he announced the seizure. "We have taken firm action on the use of the term 'fresh' on the food label.
"The use of the term 'fresh' on this product is false and misleading, and it is confusing to consumers," Kessler added. "Today's action will send a clear message that the FDA will not tolerate such violations of the law."
Following this action on May 2, after months of negotiations with FDA, Ragu Foods Company of Trumbull, Conn., agreed to change its Ragu Fresh Italian pasta sauce trademark to Fino Italian pasta sauce. It will also change the ingredients list to include tomato paste.
FDA said consumers need not return Citrus Hill or Ragu products to stores or discard them, since there was no reason to believe that the products pose any health risk. FDA's actions related to Citrus Hill and Ragu were truth-in-labeling issues, not health safety ones.


FDA Consumer; Jul/Aug 91, Vol. 25 Issue 6, p2.

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