Lawmakers push for action against misleading maple claims

A delegation from Maine, including U.S. Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins as well as U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Bruce Poliquin, joined 27 other members of Congress in a letter urging the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 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 to the commissioner. “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.”

An additional letter signed by 11 maple producers’ associations, including the Maine Maple Producers Association, was included with the lawmakers’ letter to the commissioner. The letter from the maple producers alleges widespread intentional mislabeling of products as containing real maple syrup.

“This unchecked misbranding has an adverse impact on manufacturers of products containing real maple syrup, as it allows cheaper products not containing premium ingredients to compete with those actually containing maple syrup,” the maple producers wrote in the letter. “Further, it deceives consumers into believing they are purchasing a premium product when, in fact, they have a product of substantially lower quality.”

Maine is one of 10 states that produce maple syrup, along with Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

According to University of Maine economist Todd Gabe, including multiplier effects, Maine's maple syrup industry annually contributes $49 million in revenue, 805 full- and part-time jobs and $25 million in wages to the state's economy.

Gov. LePage vies to make Maine No. 1 in maple production