Feds: Sorry, "love" isn't an ingredient

CONCORD, Mass. - Love may be a many-splendored thing, but as far as federal officials are concerned it's not an ingredient found in food. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has told the Nashoba Brook Bakery, in Concord, Massachusetts, that "love" shouldn't be listed on packaging for its granola.

In a letter posted this week, the agency says federal regulations require that ingredients must be listed by their common or usual name, and that "love" is not a common or usual name of an ingredient.

The bakery's CEO, John Gates, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the bakery will be "fully cooperative" with the FDA. But he also said the company has gotten a positive reaction from people since news of the letter began to circulate.

"It taps this feeling that a lot of Americans have that there are ways in which the government can overreach, and it seems kind of silly," Gates said. "Because it's about the word love, it's cathartic. ... It makes it something that people can smile at."

While the FDA may be technically correct, some on social media don't seem to be buying it. 

"Physicists have proven the act of observation creates physical changes. Challenge FDA to prove love is not an ingredient," one person said on Twitter.

Chocolate lovers might quibble, too. Chocolate is known to contain tryptophan, an amino acid used to produce the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is associated with feelings of happiness.

In:
• Food and Drug Administration