The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reconsidering a proposed rule that would require pure maple syrup and honey products to be labeled as having ‘added sugar’ contents.
The requirement would affect all producers – including those whose goods are made with 100 percent pure ingredients such as natural syrup and honey.
Added sugars are defined as those “that are either added during the processing of foods, or are packaged as such,” according to a draft guidance of the rule.
The announcement comes after strong pushback from Vermont’s congressional delegation and more than 3,000 constituent comments on a petition on regulations.gov, a website that collects citizen feedback.
The Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association had expressed concern that the move could be bad for business and confuse consumers.
“With honey and with maple it’s not added sugar, so it’s misleading,” Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said in an interview with VTDigger in May.
Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan had sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb requesting several revisions to the regulation, including an exemption for single-ingredient sugars like maple and honey.
“This appears to be progress,” Donovan said in a statement Wednesday. “We hope there will be a final resolution soon. And, my invitation to the commissioner to come to Vermont to sample our 100 percent pure maple products still stands,” he said.
The FDA wrote in a “constituent update” that it plans to take all feedback into consideration in developing a revised approach in presenting information to consumers.
“The feedback that FDA has received is that the approach laid out in the draft guidance does not provide the clarity that the FDA intended,” the agency wrote. “It is important to FDA that consumers are able to effectively use the new Nutrition Facts label to make informed, healthy dietary choices.”
