WASHINGTON — Just prior to the government shutdown, the “Consistent Egg Labels Act” was reintroduced by U.S. Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). This bipartisan bill seeks to require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prohibit misleading terms from egg product labeling on products that are “egg alternatives.”
Ernst represents Iowa, the nation’s leading egg producing state with more than 16 billion eggs produced annually; and Fetterman represents Pennsylvania, a top egg producer in the U.S., with more than 7 billion eggs annually. This bill looks to halt what it deems a deceptive labeling practice of imitation egg products, and for FDA to “enforce clear, uniform labeling for eggs derived from poultry to combat misleading marketing for plant-based ‘egg’ substitutes,” Ernst’s office said in the announcement.
“In the age-old debate between the chicken or the egg, one thing is for sure: eggs don’t come from plants,” Ernst said. “While Iowa farmers work hard to put healthy and affordable eggs on our tables, labeling plant-based products as ‘eggs’ undermines that work.”
“The integrity or our eggs is no joke, which is why I’m taking a ‘crack’ at ensuring there’s no question between the real deal and imitation!” she added.
“Pennsylvania’s egg farmers work hard to provide people with an affordable, easy-to-find, and healthy source of protein,” Sen. Fetterman also noted. “Our commonwealth is a leading egg producing state, and they are an important part of both our farms and our economy. The ‘Consistent Egg Labels Act’ will help farmers and shoppers by making sure eggs are labeled clearly and fairly in grocery stores.”
In citing eggs as an affordable protein source, the senator’s announcement referenced USDA nutritional information that notes eggs as being rich in vitamins A and B12, riboflavin and iron, and that plant-sourced protein alternatives do not have the same concentrated amounts of essential amino acid levels that are found in eggs.
There are no current egg alternative product requirements to set them apart from other egg and egg products. This reintroduced bill would require FDA to guide a nationwide enforcement of mislabeled alternative products within 180 days, and for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to Congress in two years after the bill’s enactment on any actions to products that were misbranded, the announcement noted.
The senator’s added that the bill would amend the definition of the market name for eggs and egg products to be “only if the food is the reproductive output of avian poultry species, including the albumen or yolk that is, or was at any point, encased in a calcium-based shell.”
Also, it would stop food for interstate commerce from “using a market name for an egg or egg product if the food does not meet the aforementioned criterion set forth for eggs or egg products.”
At the time of this writing, the government is still under a shutdown, but when all departments reconvene, the bill is being supported in the House of Representatives by U.S. Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.).
