The United States Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter to Whole foods due to an issue with not listing allergens as ingredients on food labels.

The FDA said it has reviewed the Whole Foods recalls.

“These recalls demonstrate that your business has embarked on a trend of receiving and offering for sale mislabelled food products.

For the period October 2019 to November 2020, your company recalled 32 food products due to undeclared allergens, ”the FDA wrote.

The labels “did not declare all major food allergens present in the product” as required.

William A. Correll Jr., director of the office of compliance, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said Whole Foods has been warned “for engaging in a trend of offering mislabelled foods for sale – either by receiving Whole Foods brand finished products. from third-party suppliers with mislabelled labels or using mislabelled labels when repackaging food – in the bakery and deli sections of their stores.

The warning letter follows a series of recalls over the past year of more than 30 food products sold under the Whole Foods brand because the food label did not state at least one ingredient that is an allergen major food.

Correll said that undeclared food allergens “have been the number one cause of Class I food recalls for at least the past three years. Consumers deserve to know exactly what they are buying to eat and to trust that product labels clearly list all major food allergens.

The Miami Herald reported he had received a statement from a spokesperson for Whole Foods who said, “Whole Foods Market takes food safety very seriously. We work closely with the FDA to ensure that all of our store practices and procedures meet or exceed food safety requirements. We remain committed to maintaining the highest quality standards in the industry.

The FDA cited a few examples of recalls, including minestrone soup which did not mention milk on the label, Whole Foods Market Raspberry Cheesecake Italian Gelato which did not mention eggs, Whole Foods Market White Parkerhouse Rolls which did not mention the milk and eggs and Chantilly Key Lime Tartlets without almonds.

The FDA has given Whole Foods 15 days to respond in writing on “the specific steps you are taking to address these violations”.

Whole Foods is owned by Amazon.

READ MORE

• Amazon extends the return period and adds Whole Foods as a drop-off location.