Whole Foods' half-assed labeling

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that some of the 300 food products they found on the shelves of Whole Foods Market are not as allergen-free as they claim.

Whole Foods Market has long trumpeted its premium chocolate bars for being made the old-fashioned way, in Switzerland.

But two years ago it added another manufacturing claim to the product's labels—one that would appeal to millions of Americans who suffer from potentially life-threatening food allergies.

"Good manufacturing practices," the labels stated, were "used to segregate" potential allergens such as tree nuts, soy or milk.

The labels were informative, comforting and also untrue.

A Tribune investigation found that the chocolate bar was, in fact, manufactured in a way that posed a risk to people with allergies.

These mislabeled product could have harmful or fatal effects on people with severe food allergies who assume the products are safe and free of nuts, soy, gluten or whatever allergen they're susceptible to.

Read the original story.