FDA says love isn't an ingredient

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bookworm
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FDA says love isn't an ingredient

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The FDA has warned a company about listing 'love' as an ingredient in their food.
A Massachusetts bakery's granola may be made with love, but federal officials say it shouldn't be listed as an ingredient on the package.

Nashoba Brook Bakery, in Concord, was taken to task by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for listing "love" as an ingredient on its Nashoba Granola label. In a letter posted this week on the FDA website, the agency said federal regulations require that ingredients "must be listed by their common or usual name."

"'Love' is not a common or usual name of an ingredient, and is considered to be intervening material because it is not part of the common or usual name of the ingredient," the FDA wrote.

The bakery's CEO, John Gates, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the bakery will be "fully cooperative" with the FDA. But he also said the company has gotten a positive reaction from people since news of the letter began to circulate.

"It taps this feeling that a lot of Americans have that there are ways in which the government can overreach, and it seems kind of silly," Gates said. "Because it's about the word love, it's cathartic. ... It makes it something that people can smile at."

Bakery co-owner and chief baker Stuart Witt said the company has been open nearly 20 years, and has been selling granola nearly that long. "Love," has been listed on the label from the beginning, he said.

"We feel very strongly that love is a big part of what we do," he said, adding that much care is put into baking the company's rustic, European-style sourdough bread.

"Because it's such a long process, there's so much room for error if you're not really caring and putting a lot of love into it," he said. "I always say, with our granola, you need to mix it, mix it thoroughly, and then when you're done, mix it again, and mix it again."

Witt said it's up to the government to say whether "love" should come off the label.

"We're not very happy about," he said. "But we're going to do it."
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Post by Catspaw »

Haha, that's a cute story! Thanks for sharing, bookworm. I hadn't heard about that. It's one of those little things that common sense should tell everybody not to worry about, but legally I can see why the FDA is stressed about it. ;)
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Post by Pianoman »

I know a salad dressing maker at my local farmers market that lists love in their ingredients (or used to). I wonder of they heard about this story yet. =p
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Post by bookworm »

I agree with the company that this is just silly, but I actually also agree with the FDA. It's one thing to say your product is 'made with love', lots of people do that, but actually having it in the ingredients is different.
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Post by Catspaw »

Right, that's a good point. There is a distinction. I assume they will switch their marketing over to a "made with love" kind of model, but hey, if nothing else, they're getting some publicity. :lol:
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