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  • 2016-03-24 (xsd:date)
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  • The FDA Classified Walnuts as Drugs? (en)
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  • Sometimes, the circulation of misinformation revives interest in separate, similar, but still inaccurate claims. This appeared to be the case with a March 2016 internet rumor alleging that the Food and Drug Administration classified walnuts as drugs. In February and March 2016, the FDA was already the subject of rumors that the agency outlawed cannabidiol (CBD) oils. Almost immediately, rumors began to surface on social media that walnuts had also recently fallen prey to preposterous reclassification by the FDA. While the rumors weren't new, interest in whether walnuts were drugs spiked in March 2016. Many social media users linked to a RealFarmacy item from 2013. On 23 March 2016, the Facebook page Living Traditionally shared the 2013 article as if its claims were new: The 2013 article claimed that FDA sent letters to walnut distributor Diamond Foods deeming that their walnut products [were] drugs: RealFarmacy also claimed that manufacturers' First Amendment rights were being infringed by the FDA's regulation of unsubstantiated health claims: The site linked to a letter publicly shared on the FDA's website, which was already several years old by the time the 2013 article was published, and which plainly indicated that its action was due to health claims made about walnuts in labeling and marketing: No part of the letter said (or even implied) that walnuts had been subjected to a sweeping reclassification as drugs, and in the ensuing six years, no one was arrested for or charged with possession of walnuts with intent to distribute. Additionally, the FDA didn't ban, regulate, or demand withdrawal of Diamond Foods' walnuts, or any other, from the market, but did go after the company for unauthorized health claims: As with claims that CBD oils were outlawed, blogs and Facebook pages spreading rumors that walnuts had been reclassified as drugs either didn't read or misrepresented the FDA's warning letters. In both instances, manufacturers were warned about use of marketing and labeling language that warranted classification of the products in question as drugs, primarily pertaining to suggestion that the substances or foods were intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any condition. The warnings were specifically due an unauthorized health claim, and products that are not classified as drugs by the FDA are not legally allowed to make such claims. However, the letters in no way indicated that walnuts had been classified as drugs. Prior dubious items from RealFarmacy included claims that science disproved a link between sun exposure and skin cancer, and another baselessly accusing unspecified pro-GMO bioterrorists of sabotaging Chipotle's product supply with foodborne pathogens. (en)
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