Saturday, August 05, 2006

FDA doesn't even check to see if food labels are accurate...

Its amazing how many people trust the government health programs. The food companies may, very well, have been lying to us about alot more than one would assume.

Apparently the FDA only checks to see if a label is on the box; it doesn't even check the food itself to see if the label is accurate! So there's no way of really knowing based upon some label.

Food Labels May be Inaccurate, Despite FDA Inspections

An FDA report on efforts to get rid of misleading nutrition and health claims on food labels is misleading itself.

While the FDA report implies that more than 28,000 food labels were checked in a 14-month period, they only checked to see whether or not the Nutrition Facts panel was present, rather than whether or not it was accurate.

Bruce Silverglade, the legal director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), argued that "the accuracy of Nutrition Facts labels and misleading health-related claims ... have been the casualty of not only budget cuts, but a lack of commitment on the part of the Agency to fulfill its mission."

He went on to say that the FDA should crack down on inaccurate labeling such as deceptive "0 trans fat" claims and misleading "made with real fruit" statements, rather than simply glancing at labels.
CSPI urged Congress to increase funding to the FDA and direct the FDA to make systematic supermarket sweeps and accuracy tests of Nutrition Facts labels.

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