FDA SCREWS NESTLE OVER MISLEADING LABELS!

March 5, 2010 on 10:27 am | In General |

Crack down on food labels - say no more to lying in claims on labels!

It is about time that we have clear cut legislation with punitive sanctions for violations not ‘guidelines’ for nutritional labeling and efforts made to advice those who are raking in billions of obese profits in the food industry!

Let us not forget the obese perks and salaries not forgetting the bonuses their top management and owners receive!

Totally vulgar! - Dr Jacob George

FDA SCREWS NESTLE OVER MISLEADING LABELS!

From time to time – something great happens that gives me a mental orgasm and kicks up the spirit!

And certainly, I was overjoyed in being advised by my counterparts in the US that – its health regulators the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned units of Nestle and more than a dozen other food makers about overstating or misstating the nutritional value of baby food, nuts and other products on their labels!

So our boys and girls at the various Malaysian enforcement agencies will run ‘helter-skelter’ trying to show that the monthly wages they receive are honest wages (halal) as they are doing their job examining various claims made on consumer products on Malaysian soil without waiting to fire fight after we have highlighted issues on the ground!

So far the issues surround claims made over trans fat content, antioxidant advantages, and omega-3 benefits that fail to Food and Drug Administration guidelines.

As a Consumer Advocate who has been campaigning relentlessly for new package labeling legislation that makes it easier for people to understand the nutritional content of food, I am excited at this ‘turn of events!’

It is about time that we have clear cut legislation with punitive sanctions for violations not ‘guidelines’ for nutritional labeling and efforts made to advice those who are raking in billions of obese profits in the food industry!

Let us not forget the obese perks and salaries not forgetting the bonuses their top management and owners receive!

Totally vulgar!

Though I am relieved at this new development I am saddened that there is a lacking serious crack down on manufacturers who exaggerated the healthfulness of their products!

When I say new legislation - I mean new legislation (when we can get a DNA Law in record time why not this?) that should take a punitive stance on claims over trans fats and whole wheat as well as make the nutritional facts panel on the back of food packages easier to understand.

We need to also look at the claims made like - “Healthy as Fresh,” an “Excellent Source … of Vitamin A” and have “No Added Sugar,” and more so if the products are meant for children below two years of age!

I am told that the shares of Nestle closed down 1.8 percent in Europe after this event but that is absolutely nothing – as – you will understand by just visiting any Malaysian hypermarket to see the number of Nestle products on the shelves and the huge obese and vulgar profits they make!

Perhaps, Malaysian consumers should seriously look at the claims made in the said labels, question them, compare prices of these products and examine close alternatives?

After all nothing wrong in being a ‘SMART CONSUMER!’ 
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