FDA tells bakery they can't list 'love' as an ingredient

Watch out, Nanna — according to the FDA, that chicken soup was definitely not made with "love." At least, not if you're selling it for mass consumption.

The Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to Massachusetts company Nashoba Brook Bakery on Sept. 22, rebuking them for, amongst other things, including "love" on the ingredient list for the company's granola.

"Your Nashoba Granola label lists ingredient 'Love,'" the FDA pointed out in its letter to the bakery. "Ingredients required to be declared on the label or labeling of food must be listed by their common or usual name [21 CFR 101.4(a)(1). 'Love' is not a common or usual name of an ingredient, and is considered to be intervening material because it is not part of the common or usual name of the ingredient."

Wow, okay, FDA.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Nashoba Brook Bakery CEO John Gates seemed deflated and befuddled by the FDA's objections.

“I really like that we list ‘love’ in the granola,” explained Gates. “People ask us what makes it so good. It’s kind of nice that this artisan bakery can say there’s love in it and it puts a smile on people’s face. Situations like that where the government is telling you you can’t list ‘love’ as an ingredient, because it might be deceptive, just feels so silly.”

However, in a statement to Mashable, an FDA spokesperson clarified that its primary motive for the letter was to instruct the bakery to remedy health violations, such as "potential allergen contaminations and failure to clean and sanitize its baking equipment and facility properly."

"The information about “love” as a listed ingredient was included, but is not among the agency's top concerns," the spokesperson said. "And focusing only on that particular violation detracts from the multitude of serious violations reflected in this letter."

Zing.