More Label Headaches

This time, it's taxes.

Over the past few days, several gf-friendly blogs and news sources have commented on or run stories about the new snack tax law in Washington state. The new law went into effect June 1st and defines candy (and, therefore, a taxable product) as:

Candy subject to the tax can be made with “sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners combined with chocolate, fruits, nuts, or other ingredients or flavorings and formed into bars, drops, or pieces,” according to information from the Department of Revenue.

Any product that lists flour as an ingredient on the nutritional facts label is not taxable as candy, the agency points out. Flour is “made from grain such as wheat, rice, corn, rye, oats, and barley.”

This new law has generated a great deal of concern in the gluten-free community that manufacturers will add flour to their products to avoid the new tax. We can hope they'll choose to add rice flour or corn, but the strength of the barley lobby (yes, there is a barley lobby) and the resulting appearance if barley is very surprising places, makes me skeptical. More information about the Washington State law is available in this article.

Closer to home, my reading of H.P 1051 - L.D. 1495 suggests that celiacs in Maine might face a similar situation. The new tax law states (the whole law is available here):

1-K. Candy. "Candy" means a preparation of sugar, honey or other natural or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruits, nuts or other ingredients or flavorings in the form of bars, drops or pieces and that does not contain flour or require refrigeration.

As most Mainers are aware (how could you miss all those signs?) there is a referendum on next week's ballot to repeal the new tax law: Question 1. I've been hemming and hawing about how I'll vote on Question 1, there are some aspects of the new law I find illogical or disagree with, but I do agree that Maine needs tax reform. Celiac or not, I urge you to inform yourself about the issues and the candidates (MBPN has some good, accessible information) and be sure to vote on June 8th.