Why No US Food Labeling For Vegetarians?

Factual Questions
1

(If this is too un-GQy, feel free to move it-- I wasn’t sure where else it would go, though, as I am looking for facts.)

It seems odd that with a number of different issues addressed on labels (Kosher labeling, “this product may have been processed in a facility that also processes peanuts”, the growing prevalence of fair trade certification, etc.) vegetarianism is still unaccounted for; especially considering that vegetarians are a fairly diverse and substantial aggregate, and that meat products routinely show up at the end of the ingredients list in some pretty surprising items. I understand that there are issues regarding defining what it means for a product to be “vegetarian”, but surely they could err on the side of caution and only certify products not requiring dead animal matter.

Maybe I’m being a bit naïve about the whole issue-- I had always assumed that all these labels and whatnot were somehow regulated by the government, but now that I think about it, fair trade certification is awarded by Equal Exchange, and I think kosher certification is given by various rabbinical groups, if my memory serves me correctly. Does a consensus among the food industry have to be present to allow something like this to make headway? Can a company say, “you all can label whatever you want, but we won’t partake”? Does the government have any hand in label certifications? And are the ones we see just the campaigns that were able to successfully get their ideas approved by the food industry?

2

You’ve got it. The government does not have any requirements for food labelling beyond listing nutritional information and ingredients accurately. That is why foods with high fat contents can be labelled Lite and so forth. Also, keep in mind that the standards for being considered Fair Trade or Kosher are codified and the certification is awarded by an oversight authority. There is no oversight authority for vegetarianism, because it runs the gamut from eggs and fish to strict veganism. Also, check the packages, as I’ve seen many foods that do advertise themselves as being vegetarian.

3

Not at all true. This page details the requirements a food must meet in order to be labeled “light” or “reduced” or a half dozen other descriptive words.

4

You’re right. I had gotten that confused with the absence on regulations for labeling a food “organic”.

5

That’s the thing, though. SOme words (lile lgiht, low-fat, reduced fat) are protected, but lite is not, because it’s not a real word. Be wary of anything labeled as “lite.”

6

What absence? http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/FactSheets/LabelingE.html