Researching generics

What’s really in those store brands?

By Culinate staff

May 11, 2010

News website The Faster Times recently launched its first “reader investigation” on the topic of generic and private-label food.

Why should you, the consumer, care? Because the secrecy surrounding who makes house brands (and how they make them) has been linked to such lapses as the Aurora Dairy organic-milk scandal and the salmonella-in-peanuts outbreak.

The Faster Times is asking readers to help them assemble a database of information about generic-food production. As the site notes, “We’re hoping that if some of you can join us in tracking down more information about these goods, perhaps we can influence the retail food industry to be a bit more forthcoming.”