Bread Labels on Wood Fiber Draw Attack
OCT. 9, 198512 AM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Several brands of high-fiber bread are misleading consumers by failing to disclose that the source of the fiber is wood pulp, a consumer group charged Tuesday.
“Most consumers would be shocked to learn that the fiber in these breads comes from trees, not wheat grain,” said Bonnie Liebman of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
The labels list “alpha cellulose” and do not state that the bread fiber comes from wood, Liebman said.
“Misleading? Go climb a tree,” responded Rella Dwyer, director of technical services at W. E. Long Co. in Chicago, maker of Vim, one of eight brands of bread cited by the consumer group.
‘Crude Fiber’ Listed
“Our label itself states, flat out, ‘non-nutritive crude fiber.’ That’s hardly misleading,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer said federal law requires labels to use the “common and usual name” of ingredients, and alpha cellulose is that correct term.
In addition to Vim, the nonprofit consumer advocacy group complained about similar labeling on Less, manufactured by Ort’s Inc. of Cumberland, Md.; Lite Loaf, Interstate Brands of Kansas City; Lite ‘n Up, Oroweat Foods Co. of Montebello, Calif.; Merita Lite, American Bakeries of New York; Roman Lite, Roman Meal Co. of Seattle, Wash.; Sunbeam Lite, Quality Bakers of Greenwich, Conn.; and 40, Grocers Baking Co. of Grand Rapids, Mich...
Mmmmm... VIM.