Many people, especially those with food allergies, read the ingredients on the label to be sure that the food they are buying is safe. But what happens when the labels don’t tell the whole story? Sometimes, it’s a trip to the emergency room; but sometimes, it’s death.

 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for overseeing the majority of food products sold to the public. But all too often, the FDA relies on the food manufacturers to police themselves. Truly, the “fox guarding the henhouse.” Unfortunately, the government and industry often fail to take the proper steps to test and label food until someone is hurt. And since many of the products are marketed to children, that means a child needs to get sick, or worse, before something is done.

 

A recent example is found with a young boy with a severe gluten allergy which prohibited him from eating foods made with wheat, rye or barley. His mother bought him Wellshire Kids’ Dinosaur Shapes Chicken Bites, which were labeled as “gluten-free.” Shortly after eating the chicken, the boy had a severe allergic reaction prompting his mother to give him a shot of a life saving drug and rushing him to the emergency room where he, fortunately, recovered. When this incident was brought to the attention of the manufacturer and the U.S. Department of Agriculture who oversees meat, poultry and eggs, neither would test the chicken bites and they remained for sale throughout the country with the incorrect label.  When testing was done by a large newspaper, gluten was found two out of two times. Sometime later, after there was another complaint by a consumer and moves by the regulators to tighten the “gluten-free” requirements, the company agreed to stop production until it could find a supplier that could guaranty that the batter used did not contain gluten; a guaranty that was not given by the original supplier.

 

Other popular foods marketed to children, Oreos, Pop-Tarts, Frosted Flakes, Jello and SpaghettiOs have all been recalled in recent years due to hidden ingredients that are responsible for allergic reacions. Sometimes, recalls take months and the food remains in the grocery store with no warning to purchasers. A young girl with a milk allergy was rushed to the hospital after eating muffins. The manufacturer was told and said it tested the product but found no milk in the muffin mix. Some months later, after a second report of an allergic reaction, the company tested the product again and found the milk in an ingredient it overlooked the first time; chocolate chips.  The recall took seven months before the product was pulled from the shelves.

 

Many companies do test their products and go to great lengths to be sure that the labels are accurate. But other companies do very little, or nothing at all, and the government does not require them to do testing.  Further, the recalls, if they take place, are on a voluntary basis determined by the manufacturer, not the government. And the recall notices often downplay the seriousness of the problem because the FDA allows the manufacturer to write their own recalls.

 

Typically, the U.S. Department of Agriculture does not test for hidden allergens such as peanuts or eggs because those ingredients are not themselves prohibited foods. Similarly, the FDA does not do its own testing. This ignores the fact that foods containing  hidden ingredients can be life threatening.

 

Of course, shoppers should continue to read the label and be cautious about what they buy at the grocery store. But this is certainly one of those when what you don’t know, can hurt you.