Consumer Groups Ask: How ‘Fresh’ Is ‘Fresh’? : Labeling: Dispute over wording on pasta sauce line is latest round in battle against deceptive advertising.

A new line of pasta sauces in a jar, Ragu Fresh Italian, has drawn the ire of some members of Congress, consumer groups and federal regulatory agencies who say the name of the product may be deceptive.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently cited Connecticut-based Ragu Foods Inc. for six violations of federal labeling laws in connection with its new product. In an April 3 letter, Janice F. Oliver, director of FDA’s division of regulatory guidance in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said the term “fresh” is “false and misleading” because the product is made in part from tomato paste and has been heat processed.

FDA prohibits the use of the word “fresh” to describe foods that have been subject to any form of chemical or heat processing. Ragu says the company uses crushed tomatoes, which are heated, combined with tomato paste and spices, poured into jars and then sterilized at a temperature of 205 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ragu Foods Inc. spokeswoman Eileen Sharkey acknowledges that its sauce is heat processed but denies that the label is misleading. Sharkey said the term “fresh” is part of its trade name, which the company believes exempts it from the federal government’s policy regarding heat-processed foods. “We are selling Ragu Fresh Italian pasta sauce,” she said, “not Ragu Fresh Pasta Sauce.”

What’s more, Sharkey said, the product is made by a process that exposes the sauce to less heat for a shorter time. Unlike other commercial sauces, she said, the product has twice as many fresh crushed tomatoes as tomato paste. “It maintains more of a fresh-tomato flavor,” she said. Sharkey said the firm stands by its labeling and expects to respond to the FDA.

FDA also cited Ragu for its use of the term “Italian.” That, the agency said, “may falsely imply geographical origin.” FDA policy states that any food that claims to be “Italian” must be made in Italy; otherwise, it must be called “Italian-style.” Sharkey said the word “Italian” is part of the product’s trade name.

Other violations cited by the FDA relate to the way certain ingredients are listed on the label.

FDA’s letter to Ragu comes after a series of congressional, state regulatory, consumer and industry complaints about the product, specifically about the company’s use of the term “fresh.”

Two months ago, Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif), and Edward R. Madigan (R-Ill.) wrote to James Benson, acting commissioner of the FDA, urging the agency “to take prompt action to assure that consumers are not misled by use of the term ‘fresh.’ ”

Competitors protested the label because they said they believed it gave Ragu an unfair advantage in appealing to customers. “The regulation at the FDA says you can’t put ‘fresh’ on a product that’s been processed. We abide by those rules,” said David Hackney, spokesman for Campbell Soup Co., maker of Prego spaghetti sauces.

And some consumer groups said they thought the label was confusing to buyers. “The product is not necessarily nutritionally inferior” to other commercial sauces, said Linda Golodner, executive director of the National Consumers League, a non-profit organization. “But we don’t want people to think it’s nutritionally superior.”

The debate over Ragu’s use of the word “fresh” is the latest in a series of skirmishes over claims made by food manufacturers on product labels and in advertisements.

Two years ago, the U. S. Department of Agriculture issued a policy on “fresh” poultry, prompting a spate of protests from poultry processors. Based on consultations with poultry scientists, USDA determined that poultry starts to freeze at 26 degrees. According to the agency’s policy, birds kept at temperatures below that could not be called “fresh.”

But last year, USDA revised the policy, changing the temperature to zero degrees. Margaret Glavin, USDA’s acting deputy administrator for regulatory programs at USDA, said the change was made because there was “no consensus in (the) industry” about when poultry stopped being fresh and started being frozen.

Further complicating the issue is the fact that USDA permits processed meat and poultry products sold in the refrigerated sections of supermarkets--such as cooked chicken nuggets or chicken salads--to be called “fresh.” USDA officials say this is permissible because these products are not frozen or canned and because it is obvious to consumers that the products have been cooked.

USDA also permits the term “fresh” on non-fresh products if the term is part of a trademark, fanciful name or company name. But, officials say, the term must be used in a way that makes clear that the product is not really fresh.

That is what Ragu says it is doing. “It’s not false, it’s not misleading and it’s not against government regulations,” said Sharkey. “The fact that it is obviously” in a jar is a signal to consumers that the product has been processed.

Raymond Newberry, deputy director of the FDA’s Office of Regulatory Guidance, disagreed. It “sure as heck isn’t clear,” he said, adding that FDA does not permit “any term” on a label that is false and misleading regardless of whether it is a trade name or not.