Maine Delegation Signs Letter to FDA Backing Real Maple Syrup
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, and Congressmen Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin joined a group of 27 other members of Congress on a letter urging U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf to exercise his legal authority to investigate and take action against products that falsely claim to contain maple syrup.
“We are writing today with significant concerns about the harm being done to consumers and to maple sugar producers as the result of potentially false and misleading labeling of products that contain neither maple syrup nor real maple flavor,” said the group in their letter, “We support a strong and thorough investigation into the misrepresentative labeling of food products whose labels incorrectly indicate the presence of maple syrup. We request appropriate enforcement action where warranted. The tradition of sugaring is significant not only to our cultural heritage, but to our efforts to strengthen the working landscape and local agriculture in our states.”
Included with the letter was another letter signed by 11 maple producers’ associations, including the Maine Maple Producers Association. The maple producers’ letter alleges widespread and intentional misrepresentation in the labeling of maple products.
The letter comes in advance of Maine Maple Sunday, an annual event celebrating Maine maple producers that will be held this year on March 27th. A full list of participating sugarhouses can be found HERE.
The letter to the FDA is available HERE and the full text is below.
