Nestle, POM, and Other Firms Cited for Misleading Food LabelsReviewed by Louise Chang, MD
March 3, 2010 - The FDA today warned 17 food makers -- including POM and Nestle -- that their "misleading" product labels violate federal law.
The warning letters say the firms face having their products pulled from grocery shelves if they don't make changes within 15 days.
It's a new get-tough policy, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg suggested in an open letter to the food industry.
"We continue to see products marketed with labeling that violates established labeling standards," Hamburg wrote. "To address these concerns, FDA is notifying a number of manufacturers that their labels are in violation of the law and subject to legal proceedings to remove misbranded products from the marketplace."
The FDA says the 17 cited firms committed different kinds of violations:
- Claims that the food products treat or mitigate disease. Such claims mean the food is actually an unapproved new drug, the FDA says.
- Misleading labels on blended juice products that make them appear to be made entirely from a single juice.
- "Healthy" claims that do not meet established standards for use of the term.
- Claims that a product is free of trans fats on products high in unhealthy saturated fats.
- Nutrient claims on foods for children under age 2 that are approved only for use on foods for adults.
Wow, here's another story about the USG doing something good for us. Go figure!
Too bad they have yet to get around to banning High Fructose Corn Syrup and putting warning labels on things with refined sugar in them. Yeah, I once read that refined sugar used to be called an "anti-nutrient" by the USG. Not quite a poison, but definitely not good for you, either.
Still, nice to see the FDA taking major corporations to task for lying. Wish they'd do that more often since LOADS of companies do it. Hit up that webmd.com link above to read the rest of that article, including a full list of the 17 (!) offending companies.
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