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How about letting us know which foods contain genetically modified ingredients? How about letting us know which dairy products contain rBGH? The FDA may still assert that such information is "false, misleading, or deceptive” as a disclaimer on the label, but I think consumers at least deserve the chance to make up their own minds.
Identifying true food was not always so complicated. The 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act declared that unless a product was based on strict standards consisting of ingredients that most consumers would find in their own pantry, it was labeled an “imitation.” Evidence for these standards was based upon recipes from cookbooks, some of which dated back 200 years.
As a variety of chemical preservatives, cheap fillers, and other edible innovations were developed, food manufacturers fought to end this “imitation” label. By the early 1970s, the FDA decided that if a food was “nutritionally equivalent” to a standard recipe (i.e. enriched with enough synthetic vitamins to meet the nutritional levels of a standard product) the “imitation” label could be dropped.
Decades later, consumer confusion in determining healthy food is at an all time high. If we really want to establish some clarity, how about, instead of imposing a fancy new label system, we simply return to a policy of telling the truth? Unless it was picked from a shrub, it doesn’t deserve to be called a blueberry.
