The Food and Drug Administration has released a report detailing their efforts to ensure that consumers know what they’re getting into when they purchase a product. Consumers receive such assurances by the label affixed to the foods they consume, and when the FDA begins to suspect that a product might not contain what it purports to, the agency can step in.
The accuracy of the food label is important because it prevents companies from making false or misleading claims about their products. Monitoring these labels falls within the FDA’s jurisdiction. The agency points to a recent incident involving pomegranate juice concentrate to showcase the importance of their effort. Although labels suggested that the juice was 100% pomegranate, the FDA’s subsequent analysis begged to differ. The FDA thus was able to issue an import alert on pomegranate products from Iran and Turkey, giving authorities the ability to detain pomegranate juice for a requisite amount of time before it entered our own country. Honey from some countries received a similar alert last year.
Many times, a company might use a less expensive ingredient in order to trim costs but then not alter the label to reflect the presence of that substance. If you suspect that an item’s label might sound too good to be true, you should contact the FDA at once. Even though industry officials are those who typically report such violations to the FDA, consumer reports can be just as vital. And any adversity should be reported both to the FDA and to a doctor.