A few words from the chairman of Natural Ovens

Feb. 13, 2006 -- storyhill.net earlier this month posted a story about the federal government's lawsuit against Natural Ovens of Manitowoc Inc. alleging the firm included false information on product labels. Natural Ovens and the US Food and Drug Administration have agreed to enter into a consent decree to resolve the matter.

Natural Ovens Chairman Paul Stitt wrote to storyhill.net with his version of events. With his permission, we are posting those e-mails below.

Feb. 6

I am saddened that you only take FDA's side of the story. Some of the things we are charged with happened 20 years ago-back then I made a special bread with nutrients in it that arthritics are very deficient in and mistakenly called it Arthritis bread. We sold less than 500 loaves and pulled it off the market as soon as the FDA quetioned us about it.Over the years our labels have been over 95% correct. A few have been too high or too low mainly because of analytical problems-for example when one does fiber analysis by FDA's method between 30 to 70% of thr fiber is lost-they have admitted that to me. Thus, the results one gets on a high fiber food can vary a lot from one batch to another. We have not had a single consumer complaint about our breads and certainly no one has gotten sick or died. Can you say the same about FDA approved drugs? We're not perfect by any means, but we're not criminals deserving of having our operation called a drug producing company!

Feb. 7

We were never allowed to know what we had done wrong and so could not make a defense. Until last Friday night, we had no specifics on our crime.

The corrections requested were made immediately, but no credit is given for that. We only produced a few hundred loaves of the that arthritis bread 20 years ago and none since and only 20 of the Pain Relief Kits were sold and we pulled it off the shelves within hours after the FDA sent us a letter that they were "concerned" about it. They didn't even send us a "warning" letter.

How would you like it if you were tried and convicted of running a stop sign 20 years after the fact without even being able to present your evidence to the judge or to know what crime you had committed? All corrections were made on the labels as soon as possible, but we failed to update the website info. Even the FDA cannot duplicate their numbers
when analyzing our products and many times they do not agree with Medallion lab numbers, who are supposed to be the best lab in the US. We just don't know whose numbers to use.

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Firm touting involvement in healthy school nutrition accused of false labeling
FDA says Natural Ovens of Manitowoc overstated benefits, understated calories

Featured in film "Supersize Me"

Feb. 4, 2006-- A Manitowoc firm that heavily promotes its involvement in healthy school nutrition included "false and misleading" information on its food labels, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court by the federal government.

Natural Ovens Bakery, Inc., of Manitowoc, received warnings dating back to 1985 about its product labeling, according to the suit.

The complaint names as defendants Natural Ovens; its chairman, Paul A. Stitt; its president, Barbara A. Stitt; and its CEO, Matthew Taylor.,

Under a proposed consent decree filed with the lawsuit, Natural Ovens would no longer mislabel food, and would be required to test its products on a regular basis for at least three years to ensure compliance with federal regulations.

Testing last year by the Food and Drug Administration found that "the label for 'Golden Crunch Carb Conscious Bread' claimed that it contained 3 grams of net carbohydrates, but it actually contained 7 grams," the complaint said. "The label for 'Golden Crunch Bagels' claimed that it contained 7 grams of net carbohydrates, but it actually contained 19 grams. For 'Carrot Nut Muffins,' the actual amounts of vitamin C, zinc, and calcium were 13.6%, 9.5%, and 31.2% respectively of the amounts of those nutrients declared on the product’s label."

Products also were more fattening than advertised, according to the complaint.

“'Gourmet Dinner Rolls' actually contained 142% of the calories declared in the label," the complaint said. "In addition, the label for this product claim that a contained 290 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids, but it actually contained 217 milligrams. Finally, 'Paul's Oats' actually contained 141% of the sodium declared in the label."

Natural Ovens heavily promotes its involvement in Appleton schools, and was featured favorably in the film "Supersize Me."

The feds are not impressed, according to the complaint.

As far back as 1985, according to the complaint, the firm was issued a caution concerning "its promotion of bread with claims that it can treat arthritis."

Later inspections "also revealed that the labeling of Defendants' products was false and misleading," the complaint said.

In 2004, the complaint said, the FDA found false a claim that Natural Ovens made for one of its bread products: that it "contained as much protein as a sirloin steak on an equal weight basis."

The suit also alleges the firm marketed drugs without proper testing.

To read the complaint, click here. To read the proposed consent decree, click here.