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Cherry Pie Regulations
Kerby Anderson
How many cherries should be in a frozen cherry pie? In case you are wondering, the Food and Drug Administration has regulations governing the number, the weight, and the kind of cherries that can be placed into a frozen pie.
The reason I know this is due to a decision by the FDA to deregulate the cherry pie market. Raymond March (Independent Institute) goes into some detail about the numerous regulations concerning frozen cherry pies. Not only do the regulations mandate the percent of cherries by weight but also mandate the percent of the cherries that may be deemed to be blemished. And there are even regulations that define what is considered frozen, what constitutes a blemish, and even how much crust must cover the pies.
President Trump pledged to eliminate a significant number of FDA regulations. The regulations surrounding cherry pies illustrates why this is important. Corporations, like Sara Lee, are in the business of producing food products that consumers will buy. If their cherry pies have too few cherries or don’t look good, people will stop buying them. They don’t need the FDA to protect them with pages of regulations. The FDA should spend its time regulating drugs and other medical products that consumers cannot as easily evaluate.
Bakers and food producers often accept and even promote regulations that may give them a competitive edge, but not in this case. Lee Sanders of the American Bakers Association was “hopeful the cherry pie standard will finally be revoked.” You know it is time for regulations to go when even special interests want them eliminated.
He also acknowledged that deregulation would not make a big difference in the industry. That’s because consumers and the market system will keep bakers and food producers accountable. If you don’t make a good cherry pie, people won’t buy it.
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