--- title: The Government Has Spoken: "Love" Is Not a Food Ingredient description: The Food and Drug Administration deemed that a Massachusetts bakery's granola ingredients list cannot include the seasoning of "love." canonical: https://time.com/4969114/fda-granola-love/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-04T18:26:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:47:45.774Z og:title: The Government Has Spoken: 'Love' Is Not a Food Ingredient og:description: We're heartbroken og:url: https://time.com/4969114/fda-granola-love/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf270a03194e3af44/6988e090cf40a81757c49aca/granola-stock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4512 og:image:height: 2538 og:image:alt: Maple Olive Oil Pecan Granola og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Government Has Spoken: 'Love' Is Not a Food Ingredient twitter:description: We're heartbroken twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf270a03194e3af44/6988e090cf40a81757c49aca/granola-stock.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Government Has Spoken. 'Love' Is Not a Food Ingredient. > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 4, 2017 6:26 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 24: Maple Olive Oil Pecan Granola. (Photo by Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 24: Maple Olive Oil Pecan Granola. (Photo by Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)The Washington Post—The Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 4, 2017 6:26 PM UTC The federal Food and Drug Administration is not in the mood for love. The FDA [recently reprimanded](https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2017/ucm577393.htm) a Massachusetts bakery for including the romantic term in the ingredients list for its granola. Unfortunately for the West Concord’s [Nashoba Brook Bakery](https://www.yelp.com/biz/nashoba-brook-bakery-concord), however, seasonings of “love” aren’t meant to be. They laid out the case against love in a warning letter: --- > “” --- The CEO of the bakery in question, John Gates, sounds a bit heartbroken over this unrequited attempt to inject some sweetness into the packaging. “Situations like that where the government is telling you you can’t list ‘love’ as an ingredient, because it might be deceptive, just feels so silly,” [he told Bloomberg News](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-03/fda-declares-there-s-no-love-in-granola-warns-bakery-company), calling the response “so George Orwell.” Then again, the FDA had [plenty of other](https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2017/ucm577393.htm) health and safety concerns about the bakery’s practices. The “love” thing just happens to cut to the core. And of course the internet had feelings about the FDA’s lack of sensitivity. Better luck next time, Nashoba Brook. Guess the FDA just isn’t that into you. > [](https://twitter.com/JWo860/status/915536595192877061) > [](https://twitter.com/PrettyblackVII/status/915556583832158209) > [](https://twitter.com/JohnVonB/status/915539909041180672) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4969114/fda-granola-love/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4969114/fda-granola-love/"},"headline":"The Government Has Spoken. 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