July 2018 Articles

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Farm Bureau-supported Bills Will Ensure Accurate Product Labeling

Farm Bureau-supported Bills Will Ensure Accurate Product Labeling Newly introduced labeling legislation will ensure that consumers continue to benefit from nutritional and allergy information on packaging, while guaranteeing that any additional product information required by states or cities is clear, accurate, meaningful and science-based. The Accurate Labels Act (H.R. 6022, S. 3019) is backed by the Coalition for Accurate Product Labels, of which the American Farm Bureau Federation is a member. An increasing number of states and cities are making it difficult for consumers to have access to the information they need or are proposing mandatory packaging labels that are not backed by science and that imply risks when none exist. California’s labeling program, which requires warnings on anything that contains one of over 900 substances like aloe vera and others that are naturally occurring, is one example. Under that program, consumers are misled by warnings that products like french fries can cause cancer, even though science shows it would take eating 182 lbs. of french fries a day to create a cancer risk. The Accurate Labels Act would amend the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act to ensure that consumers have access to clear, accurate and meaningful product information; establish science-based criteria for all additional state and local labeling requirements; allowing state-mandated product information to be provided through smartphone-enabled “smart labels” and on websites; and ensuring that covered product information is risk-based. “To fulfill their purpose of helping consumers make informed choices based on facts, food labels must be science-based. Congress should ensure that food labels are consistent, clear and credible. We support new legislation to make ‘smart labels’ the standard, uniform vehicle to accomplish that,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said in a statement.