The following quote is attributed to William A. Correll, Jr., Director, Office of Compliance, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition:
“Last week, the FDA warned Whole Foods Market for engaging in a pattern of offering misbranded food for sale—either by receiving finished Whole Foods store brand products from third-party suppliers with misbranded labels or by using misbranded labels when repackaging food—in the bakery and deli sections of their stores. The warning letter follows a series of recalls in the past year of more than 30 food products sold under the Whole Foods brand because the food label did not declare at least one ingredient that is a major food allergen.
“The FDA is committed to protecting the health of the American people. It’s important that food packaging, at all points of the supply chain, appropriately lists the presence of all major food allergens so that individuals with food sensitivities can take appropriate steps to avoid products that may cause them serious and life-threatening harm.
“Undeclared food allergens are the number one leading cause of Class I food recalls for at least the last three years. Consumers deserve to know exactly what they are buying to eat and to trust that the product labels clearly list all major food allergens.
“The entire food supply chain can and must do better to prevent exposing consumers to incorrectly labeled packaged food. To address the problem, the FDA is working to improve industry’s compliance with allergen labeling requirements and reduce food recalls due to undeclared allergens.
“Manufacturers should also ensure they have controls in place to prevent unintentionally adding allergens during their manufacturing processes. When they fail to follow the law, we will take the necessary action.”
Additional Information:
- Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration posted a warning letter issued to Whole Foods Market for engaging in a pattern of receiving and offering for sale misbranded food products under their own brand name. In some cases, Whole Foods Market would receive finished products for repackaging and label them using misbranded scale labels. These products were misbranded because the finished product labels failed to
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