Blumenthal, Murphy, DeLauro, Courtney, Esty Join Bipartisan, Bicameral Letter to FDA Backing Real Maple Syrup

WASHINGTON, DC (March 10, 2016) — Continuing efforts to protect Connecticut maple sugar producers and consumers' right to know what is in their food, U.S Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), and U.S Representatives Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Joe Courtney (CT-02), and Elizabeth Esty (CT-05), led by U.S Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and U.S Representative Peter Welch (VT-AL), urged 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.

"Product after product is cited that touts ‘maple' boldly on the front of the package, along with iconic images of maple sugaring, but show no maple at all on the ingredients list," wrote Blumenthal, Murphy, DeLauro, Courtney, and Esty. "These practices seem to intentionally mislead consumers who get cheap, industrially produced sweeteners and artificial flavors rather than the pure natural product they believe they have purchased. At the same time, sugar makers lose markets and income while the premium reputation of pure maple syrup is damaged as consumers become used to inferior imitations."

The bipartisan, bicameral letter was signed by 31 members of Congress. The full letter is available here.