It must have been a slow news week as most of the national media, print, digital, and TV are applauding the changes under consideration by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Once again, I am underwhelmed by the slow pace of change in food safety. And, while the FDA seems to be proactive, they are not! They are reactive and wait until something bad happens to our food supply or Congress pushes them to do something. The Food Labeling Modernization Act was introduced by three congressional Democrats: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (CT), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT) and Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ) more than one year ago. And then now, they, the FDA, “suggests” a change in package labeling.
The changes to the food labeling information found on most consumer food items will receive a “proposed change” as shown in the cover photo. There will be a 90 day comment period and then, if they decide to continue, the implementation will take two years! And that will only occur if the Grocery Manufacturers Association doesn’t lobby them to back down. But, there are some questions to ask as to the value of the possible changes. Will there be any real added information for the consumer to consider and will they read the label? But, even more important is in the list of ingredients that is cloaked in chemical jargon. Do we, as consumers understand what some of these preservatives, dyes, and hidden sugars and salt mean? I understand that manufacturers need to have shelf life, appearance, and taste as selling points but when a simple product has a list of 20 or 30 ingredients, I become concerned. A simple case in point:
The changes to the food labeling information found on most consumer food items will receive a “proposed change” as shown in the cover photo. There will be a 90 day comment period and then, if they decide to continue, the implementation will take two years! And that will only occur if the Grocery Manufacturers Association doesn’t lobby them to back down. But, there are some questions to ask as to the value of the possible changes. Will there be any real added information for the consumer to consider and will they read the label? But, even more important is in the list of ingredients that is cloaked in chemical jargon. Do we, as consumers understand what some of these preservatives, dyes, and hidden sugars and salt mean? I understand that manufacturers need to have shelf life, appearance, and taste as selling points but when a simple product has a list of 20 or 30 ingredients, I become concerned. A simple case in point:
The basic product, Campbell's tomato soup, has sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup, and three forms of salt with salt water, natural sea salt, and monopotassium phosphate, a salt of potassium. And, in addition, we have no idea where the raw ingredients come from. China is a prime source of chemicals for the food industry but there is no requirement to tell us what we are ingesting and where it is sourced. The FDA is not doing an adequate job of protection us and we need to let them know. There is a link to the proposed changes and how to comment on the changes here. Perhaps if the bureaucrats at the FDA left their desks once in a while to go into the field and do inspections, they would not have to complain about being understaffed!
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