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This petition is no longer valid; it has been left online for educational purposes.
Petition for Clearer Food Labeling -- Representatives
The following petition type letter
may be photocopied and distributed
to friends, relatives, allergy groups,
health food stores, etc. Please print or
photocopy and distribute to others with
allergies. The campaign was started
October 25, 1997 by
Food Allergy Survivors Together.
This version of the campaign began March 16,
1998. For the most up-to-date version, visit
https://www.angelfire.com/mi/FAST/food.html.
To use, simply sign your name
(or have your whole family sign one petition),
add a personal P.S. of your own experience or
suggestions (or cross off if none), and send
it to your representatives in Washington DC
(there are three per family --
one in the House, and two in the Senate).
The addresses are (fill in the blanks with your
representatives' names):
The Honorable ___________-------------------------The Honorable __________
U.S. Senate----------------------------------------U.S. House of Representatives
Washington DC 20510----------------------------------Washington DC 20515
For my own reference, I sent this letter out ____/____/____.
If you live in a country other than the United States, you may want to write a similar petition to your representatives.
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Honorable ____________________:
I (or another person in my family) have food allergies. It
is hard to purchase manufactured products, but
even more so since current FDA regulations allow
for vague product listings. I, along with others who suffer from this malady, am hopeful that our representatives in Washington will take steps for legislation requiring companies to label all ingredients in foods, no matter how small a trace of the ingredient is present. For example, people with anaphylaxis allergies can have an immediate and severe reaction if they only ingest a trace amount of their allergic food.
The current "U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition: A Food Labeling Guide (September 1994; Updated May 1997)" states: "Is it necessary to declare trace ingredients? It depends on whether the trace ingredient is present in a significant amount and has a function in the finished food. If a substance is an incidental additive and has no function or technical effect in the finished product, then it need not be declared on the label..." In addition, it goes on to say, "How are spices, natural flavors or artificial flavors declared in ingredient lists?" It says in the FDA guidelines that they may be listed in this vague manner. However, to someone with allergies, that is as bad as an "et cetera" placed on an ingredient label.
People with allergies have problems with
ingredients listed as natural flavorings,
spices, artificial flavorings, etc.; basically any food that is
not listed in a clear manner can be a threat to someone with food allergies.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
____________________________
Signature
____________________________
Name printed
____________________________
Street address
____________________________
City, state, and zip code
____________________________
Phone number
P.S.
This letter has been supplied by health food stores, allergists,
food allergy groups
and others with a concern for better food labeling.
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