Following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) urging, a New Jersey bakery has closed their doors after discovering sugar present in their “No Sugar Added” labels.
The Edison-based shop, Butterfly Bakery, which started in 1998, focused on producing delicious homemade bakery goods offering great taste without the sugar. An FDA investigation found that some of their advertised sugar-free products were not just “Made with 100% Love!” as their slogan boasts, but made with sugar, as well!
As if it wasn’t bad enough to deliberately mislabel their products as Sugar-Free when they added sugar, putting patients with diabetes at risk, the lengthy investigation also found several products that incorrectly listed the fat contents as much lower than what they actually contained. For example, their No Sugar Added Blueberry Muffins contained 360 percent MORE than what they listed on the label. Their Sugar Free Double Chocolate Chip Muffin’s label actually contained 444 percent MORE saturated fat than indicated on the label. In addition, they allegedly failed to disclose a major food allergen, milk, on their labels. They mislabeled serving sizes, as well.
All the misinformation listed were violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
Haven’t you ever tasted a product that was too good to be “fat-free” or contain very little sugar and wondered, “is this really fat-free?” but most companies adhere to the FDA’s standards and post labels they can stand behind.
The FDA said that this closure serves as a warning that the agency takes false claims on goods seriously.
The Butterfly Bakery has entered into a consent decree with the FDA, which means that the bakery has halted its production and distribution to comply with the FDA’s regulations. Federal judge, Dennis Cavanaugh, has issued an injunction.
“This injunction demonstrates that the FDA will seek enforcement action against companies that mislead consumers on the products they purchase,” Melinda K. Plaisier, the FDA’s acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs, said in a press release. “Until Butterfly Bakery meets FDA regulations, it will no longer be able to process or distribute their products.”
The Butterfly Bakery released a statement on its Facebook page addressing the shutdown, which stated the company was “voluntarily entering into a consent agreement with the FDA which would best enable Butterfly to move forward and expeditiously resolve the FDA’s concerns.”
The company pointed out that only three out of the 45 products they sold had been cited by the FDA for misleading labeling.
“Butterfly Bakery wants to assure all of its customers that we take continuous pride in the integrity of our products while practicing good manufacturing and ensuring the safety and quality of out products,” the company said in its statement.
Butterfly says its baked goods can be found in supermarkets and specialty stores nationwide. They got their start by making sugar-free desserts that could be enjoyed by diabetics.
As reported by ABC News, FDA spokeswoman, Tamara Ward, said that although mislabeled ingredients is a fairly common complaint, finding additional fat and sugar in products specifically proclaiming they are “sugar-free” was a new experience.
“It’s a bit unique,” said Ward of the mislabeled fat and sugar content.” But we expect them to come into compliance.”
It is one thing to list the fat content as a little bit lower than it truly contains, but to deliberately market and label a product as being “sugar-free” when they are aware that their product does have some form of sugar present, can be very dangerous to a diabetic patient or anyone that is unable to consume sugar-containing products. It is deceitful for them to purposely mislead the consumer about the fat content, as well.
Their products may be “Made with 100% Love” but they are also made with a large percentage of deceit and dishonesty.
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