Tic Tac rules: the slow FDA.

• Author: Mangu-Ward, Katherine
• Position: Citings - Food and Drug Administration on the nutritional information of breath mints - Brief article

In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began a process to regulate the labels on Tic Tacs, Certs, and other breath fresheners. A hill 17 years later, a new 145-page document has been drafted after the first one was withdrawn for being outdated.

What's taking so long?

Well, when you feel the need to freshen your breath, do you pop one Tic Tac or two? Portion size is always a tricky question on food labels. But when the FDA bureaucrats set out to figure out how to slice and dice the nutritional information on tiny mint or cinnamon candies, they decided to call in some outside advice.

After soliciting input from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Federal Trade...