A few weeks ago, I shared a story about a farmer who was in an ongoing battle with the FDA over how they wanted him to label his skim milk. The government wanted the farmer to label his skim milk as imitation skim milk or imitation milk because it didn't have any added synthetic vitamins.

The farmer, Randy Sowers, only wanted to sell the most natural skim milk possible and didn't want to have to confuse people in the market with a label that might suggest the product was something other than pure or natural.

And now maple syrup and honey producers are upset with the FDA over the proposed changes to the food label requirements on their products as well.

Those who are currently producing pure maple syrup or pure honey are going to be required to post a label that says their product contains added sugars. The producers have criticized the new changes that have been proposed by the FDA, as being misleading, illogical, and confusing. They are worried it's going to hurt their business at the end of the day. They are hoping to be able to fight the proposed changes.

THERE ARE NO ADDED SUGARS...

As Rep. Peter Welch from Vermont has pointed out, Maple syrup is a pure product and there aren't any added sugars. Another critic, who happens to be a maple syrup producer, says that the syrup product is coming straight from the trees and that the company then works to refine that product in an effort to try and retain the quality.

The large manufacturers (over $10 million in food sales annually) of these products will need to comply by the new changes by the first of January 2020, and the smaller manufacturers (less than $10 million in food sales annually) have until a year later.

Producers say that the newly proposed changes, including the label, are also confusing even though they might have been made with good intentions. When people come across the shelf and pick-up a bottle of pure honey or pure syrup and they then see that added sugar notice, then they might wrongfully assume that sugar has been added when it hasn't been.

As the vice president, Chris Hiatt, of the American Honey Producers Association has pointed out, honey is a pure sugar, so there is no need to add any other sugars.

Producers are still busy working with lawmakers to try and have the FDA rescind their attempts to make these changes. They're still trying to gather support and effectively communicate the issue to the FDA of how confusing the new changes might make it for producers and consumers of those products.

Pics:
Pixabay

Sources:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2018/05/01/maple-honey-producers-fda-added-sugars-label/571398002/
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/vermont/articles/2018-05-01/maple-honey-producers-decry-fda-added-sugars-label
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/stories/added-sugar-not-so-fast-say-maple-syrup-producers,538660

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