FDA

Question

Regarding your position on ingredients, I do have a question. Does the FDA have its own inspectors regarding ingredients, or do they empower each state to check on manufacturers ingredients and compliance with FDA regulation? If it is the latter, are there uniform standards that each state complies with? Within the same company, does one plant in state have an easier FDA inspector than a manager of a plant in a different state? Ir could be that I am wrong, however, I have personally seen very very loose interpretations of ingredient labels by plant managers, where one item was substituted for another and it was approved by the plants quality control department. It is the policy of many companies to avoid animal derivatives on the ingredients so as to maximize the consumer base (There are a lot of vegetarians). Now it is true that in some states they cannot do this without FDA inspectors coming down on top of them, but in many states they can. Back in the fortues when many Rabbonim relied on ingredients, they also combined it with a letter from the company. Yet you are relying on the very varied standards of the FDA throughout each state without a letter from the company stating their quality control standards. I imagine that you are relying on a rov (majority) that most companies regardless of the state basically adhere to ingredient standards and that you consider this a situation where it is not easily verifiable otherwise.. Is this the rationale? Please have Rabbi CYA answer this not Rabbi AA, as Rabbi AA was hutzpadik to my father and never did give his donation yet to my father's school... Thank you, Yair Hoffman's youngest son