KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The makers of Wonder Bread have come under fire from food-allergy groups for package labeling that says the bread contains a dairy product when it actually doesn't.
But Interstate Bakeries Corp. said last week it is just trying to give consumers a heads up because it plans to add the dairy product whey to the lunchtime staple by the end of the year.
However, the company's strategy appears to be at odds with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new regulations for food labeling, said agency spokeswoman Kimberly Rawlings.
"The regulations state that the packaging has to be truthful and not misleading," Rawlings said. "The label should reflect the contents of the package," she said, adding that she didn't know if the FDA had received any complaints about Wonder Bread or if the agency was looking into the matter.
Even though the recipe has not yet been changed, Interstate Bakeries said it began selling bread with the updated ingredient list in order to give customers with dairy allergies plenty of advance warning.
"Because of consumer safety, we take these matters very seriously," said Theresa Cogswell, vice president of research and development for the Kansas City-based company, which has operations in Salt Lake City and Ogden. "We are being very slow with the actual change."
The company's decision has alarmed food allergy experts, who worry it could teach parents of children with food allergies to take chances.
According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, based in Fairfax, Va., about 6 percent of children have food allergies and a majority of those are dairy-based.
"What the company is doing is undermining the public's trust in labeling," said Anne Munoz-Furlong, chief executive of the food allergy group. "We need to make sure that the ingredient information can be trusted and consumers aren't put in a position of playing Russian roulette at the expense of their child."
Interstate's Cogswell argued it would be more dangerous to wait until the recipe was changed and risk using packaging that didn't list the presence of the dairy product.
"Our customers are best served — and the spirit of the FDA regulations is best served — by changing the labeling on a schedule that ensures that consumers have the information they need," she said.
Cogswell said the company last fall decided to eventually put whey, a liquid byproduct of cheese- and yogurt-making, in Wonder Bread to improve its taste and texture.
But some affected customers are wondering why the company is bothering to add the product. Cindy Kearns of Penfield, N.Y., who said her 6-year-old son could develop a life-threatening reaction if he eats anything made with dairy products, was angry at the change.
"They say they wanted to change the taste," she said. "What kid is saying they don't like Wonder Bread?"