The FDA held a hearing on September 16th about the “may contain” portion of its food labeling regulations. If you are like me, and you missed the public hearing, you can still submit a comment online.
You can comment here:
http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocumentDetail&o=09000064806b7555
I believe that companies should be required to disclose all the ingredients of any product they sell. Car makers have to know what parts they put into their cars, why can food and drug companies get away with “spices” or “natural and artificial flavors”? I once called a drug company to find out more information about a specific listed ingredient (I wanted to know if it was corn-based) and was told that they had no way of knowing – that their suppliers just shipped them whatever was cheapest at the time, and they didn’t even know what they were using at any given point in time!
Under current FDA rules, something you think may be a raw ingredient (for example, a bag of flour purchased at the grocery store) may actually contain multiple ingredients (for example, malted barley flour, corn starch, chemicals) that may or may not be listed in the ingredient list on the label. This is compounded when the flour is made into bread and then sold. In the chain of manufacturers, essential information is lost.
Just wanted to post the comment I submitted — please submit your own!
As the mother of a child with multiple, severe food allergies I am concerned about
the FDA food labeling requirements. My child is allergic to some of the top eight
allergens, but is also severaly allergic to other foods that are not in the top eight.
Companies that produce food for sale in the United States should be required to
disclose all the ingredients of the products they sell. Currently, products may
have ingredients such as “vegetable oil,” “natural flavor,” or “flour” listed, and are
not required to disclose the full ingredients — even to a consumer who calls the
company to ask about a specific allergen. All of the ingredients of a food include
the constituent ingredients of an ingredient — such as “flour: wheat, malted barley,
ferrus sulfate,” not just “flour.”
I have even been told by companies that they don’t know what is in the product
they are selling — that it “comes in an unlabeled tank” or that they “use whatever
our supplier sends us.” The most chilling example of this is the manufacturer of a
children’s pain reliever who told me over the phone that they did not know the
source of the sugars or flavorings that were in the medicine they were selling
because their supplier “sends us whatever is cheapest at the time — it could be
from beets or corn, but we don’t know what is in each batch.” This would disturb
me even if I did not have a child with allergies. I frankly find it hard to believe that
a pharmecutical company is not required to track what they are putting into
medicine.
Car companies are required to know where their parts come from and to perform
safety inspecions on their suppliers’ parts. How much more important are things
that we are putting into our bodies? The recent food scares in China are
examples of the problems that can result from not knowing where your food is
coming from or what is in it. I think a minimum requirement of any company
selling an edible product should be that they know what is in it and disclose that
knowlege to the consumer.
There needs to be enforcement of the FDA labeling laws. Companies should be
required to comply with regulations, and should face stiff fines if they do not.
Compliance should not be voluntary — our health is too important to not take this
seriously.