With Faulty Food Labeling, Who's Minding the Store?

Recent charges of misleading ingredient, calorie count info have FDA scrambling to fix system

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

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FRIDAY, March 19 (HealthDay News) -- Reports in recent months of inaccurate, misleading ingredient lists or calorie-counts on store-bought foods are leading many to wonder if food-product labeling can be trusted, and who -- if anyone -- is checking that it's true.

Consider the following:

• A report published in January involving 29 reduced-calorie restaurant and packaged foods found that many products had an average 18 percent more calories than was stated on labels or menus;
• DNA studies done late last year by two New York City high school students found that one out of six products in their own kitchens had labeling that was flat-out wrong. This included cheese claiming to be made from sheep's milk that was actually plain old cow's milk and caviar that was Mississippi paddlefish instead of sturgeon, as advertised;
• According to a study released in 2009, about 2 percent of food products without a "may contain" warning actually do contain allergens. Even a trace of some allergens -- peanuts, for example -- could be lethal to some people.

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And on March 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it had alerted 17 food manufacturers that the labeling on 22 of their products violated federal statutes. The problems included "unauthorized health claims, unauthorized nutrient content claims, and the unauthorized use of terms such as 'healthy.'" The companies were given 15 days to outline how they would correct the violations.

All of this lends urgency to a recent FDA "three-pronged initiative" for better oversight of food labeling. That effort includes moving food-ingredient information to the front of the package -- instead of burying it on the back -- and amending "serving size" amounts to reflect real-world eating practices, said agency spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Institute of Medicine, at the urging of the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is reviewing so-called "front of package" messages -- the symbols, logos and icons that give consumers nutritional information. The final report, to be used as a basis for federal regulations, should be out later this year.

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