New FDA regulation on nutrition labeling

[bill m]

Has anyone seen or heard about the new regulation that will require pure maple syrup and honey to include the line "added sugars" to nutrition labels?

[motowbrowne]

Dr Tim started a thread about it yesterday.

[DMF]

Dr Tim started a thread about it yesterday.

I can't seem to find it...?

[Vtmbz]

Vermonts congressional delegation is on this in DC but perhaps your delegation in your state is not. Contact your senators and congresspeople and let them know how ill informed is this new regulation is.

[bobbyjake]

Since syrup isn't 100% sugar, why is it to be labeled as 100% sugar?.. Sugar Added??? How about water subtracted?

[Haynes Forest Products]

I believe 100% sugar would have to be granulated. How about they leave it alone because I cant believe anyone has called up thew consumer protection agency to complain that they purchased Pure Maple Syrup and didn't realize how much sugar was in it. Now I did have a guy answer another visitors question at a dairy breakfast and I was manning the sugar house. She asked why Vermont's syrup tasted so mush sweeter and he chimed in with "because they put more sugar in it" We will always have a certain segment of the population that just don't have a clue and no labeling will fix stupid.

I think this legislation is a cure looking for a problem. Its just stupid and was probably brought about because some low level clown in some government department has a young family member that is Diabetic and he squirted an entire pint of Vermont's finest down his throat and missed his Soccer game. Little Billiy cried all day because that's the day they gave out participation ribbons.

[motowbrowne]

I can't seem to find it...?

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?33013-Online-poll-about-quot-Added-sugar-quot

[motowbrowne]

Since syrup isn't 100% sugar, why is it to be labeled as 100% sugar?.. Sugar Added??? How about water subtracted?

The thread I just linked to from Dr. Tim explains the figuring behind the percentages.

[GeneralStark]

Before we get too far down the road on this one, the "sugar added" is referencing sugar added to your diet or total food intake. While this relates to sugars added to a given food product, my understanding is this proposed updating of nutritional labeling standards is related to changing federal laws adopted in 2016.

This document describes the background on the proposed changes and some example labels showing how the "added sugars" in natural sweeteners could be clarified on packaging.

https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/UCM596469.pdf

The big issue here is that the language the FDA has chosen could be very confusing to consumers and hence this is why the VT delegates have been fighting this.

Basically instead of the label just reading "sugars" under total carbs, it will read "total sugars" and "added sugars". This seems pertinent to a product like cranberries where sugar is "added" to make them more sweet, but it does not pertain at all to natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup.

[GeneralStark]

The thread I just linked to from Dr. Tim explains the figuring behind the percentages.

It doesn't appear as though Dr. Tim's thread can be replied to, so this is the text:

"Not sure how many are aware of this, but there is a pending rule by the FDA to require foods to have an "Added Sugar" category on their label. What they mean by this is how much is "added" to your diet, not how much sugar is "added" to the food as an ingredient. For maple syrup it would mean putting 100% "Added" sugar on the nutrition label. This is potentially confusing to consumers.

In any case, a newspaper has an ongoing poll on the subject. Vote here: http://www.caledonianrecord.com/news...be2551a03.html"

[Potters3]

Government looking for ways to govern and keep there jobs. Total crap, the sugar content is already on the label Sugars 53g per serving. And in a nut shell that is what it is. We DO NOT want people thinking we add sugar.


last I knew i would get fined and thrown in jail for doing it.

[berkshires]

It actually sounds to me like a great idea (adding "added sugars" to the label), but that the issues around honey and maple syrup just weren't thought out properly beforehand. Now they're trying to fix something after the fact by putting an asterisk on products which this rule never should have been applied to in the first place. Oops.

[ecolbeck]

I believe 100% sugar would have to be granulated. How about they leave it alone because I cant believe anyone has called up thew consumer protection agency to complain that they purchased Pure Maple Syrup and didn't realize how much sugar was in it. Now I did have a guy answer another visitors question at a dairy breakfast and I was manning the sugar house. She asked why Vermont's syrup tasted so mush sweeter and he chimed in with "because they put more sugar in it" We will always have a certain segment of the population that just don't have a clue and no labeling will fix stupid.

I think this legislation is a cure looking for a problem. Its just stupid and was probably brought about because some low level clown in some government department has a young family member that is Diabetic and he squirted an entire pint of Vermont's finest down his throat and missed his Soccer game. Little Billiy cried all day because that's the day they gave out participation ribbons.


Knock it off man. People come here to learn about maple and discuss issues. Baseless rants about the government just get in the way. Find a productive way to vent frustration that doesn’t involve being derogatory.

[stoweski]

For your reading pleasure. 3000+ comments to the FDA at least woke them up.

https://www.pressherald.com/2018/06/19/fda-reconsiders-added-sugar-labeling-requirement-for-honey-and-maple-syrup/

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

This is good news but we still don't know what the final labeling requirements will be.

[Mark]

How many other foods have naturally occurring sugar and will want an exemption also? That will be the problem of getting what we want.

[Haynes Forest Products]

What would you think about Bananas having the same label. I would bet if you had 2 crates of the same bananas on one crate was labeled SUGAR ADDED you would see a big difference in the sales and questions to the guy in produce. How about peaches, here in Colorado they brag about how sweet they are because of the climate on the western slope. Cantelope is another one and yet they have killed more people than Maple syrup ever has or will.

[minehart gap]

Cantelope is another one and yet they have killed more people than Maple syrup ever has or will.

Funny that you mention killer cantelope Haynes, my wife and I were in California last year moving our daughter to a new house and I had rented a truck. During one of our trips back and forth, some smart a** threw a cantelope over the fence of a state park and hit the hood of the truck while we were going about 50 on the Pacific Coast Highway. Darn near caused a heart attach in the passenger seat and if I would have slammed on the brakes, there would have been one heck of a multi car pile up. Proof that cantelopes can kill.

[TheMapleNews]

https://www.themaplenews.com/story/fda-backtracks-on-added-sugar-label-for-maple-syrup/208/

[BAP]

https://www.themaplenews.com/story/fda-backtracks-on-added-sugar-label-for-maple-syrup/208/
Who wrote the article? It says at the top BY Peter Gregg but I say the exact same article in my local paper from the AP.