Government

Sticky Situation: New Bill Would Make Selling Fake Maple Syrup a Felony With 5 Yrs in Prison

New Bill Would Make Selling Fake Maple Syrup a FelonyMONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont couple thought they were getting a sweet deal on real Vermont maple syrup when they found a good price for it on the Internet.

The man who was selling it told them he was a trucker from Rhode Island who passed through Vermont and that he would meet them in Brattleboro to give them their syrup, said Henry Marckres, a maple specialist with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture.

Turns out the syrup they bought in 2009 wasn’t real at all, officials say. Tests show it was pure cane sugar.

It didn’t take long for the couple from Vermont – the largest producer of maple syrup in the country- to discern a phony.

The taste wasn’t quite right, Marckres said. It looked like syrup, but was too light in color to be labeled as Grade B syrup, which is dark, said Marckres.

“It was sweet, but it had no maple flavor at all,” he said.

To protect the purity of Vermont’s signature crop and to dissuade others from passing off fake maple syrup for the real thing – which sells for about $50 a gallon – Vermont’s two U.S. senators have co-sponsored a bill that would make it a felony to sell fake maple syrup as the real thing. It would also increase the penalties in existing law from one year to five years in prison.

“Vermonters take pride in the natural products our state produces,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. He says the growing number of individuals and businesses selling fake maple syrup alarms him.

“This is fraud, plain and simple, and it undermines a key part of Vermont’s economy,” he added.

Co-sponsoring the bill – the Maple Agriculture Protection and Law Enforcement (MAPLE) Act with Leahy are Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, and New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

Bernard Coleman of West Warwick, R.I., was indicted last month on charges that he brought adulterated maple syrup into interstate commerce, which carries a one-year penalty. A federal public defender did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Other foods like coffee, catfish and certain onions have their own special protections. At least six states have labeling requirements for the sale of catfish, according to a report from National Agricultural Law Center.

The name Vidalia Onions is trademarked and reserved for onions grown in a certain region of southeast Georgia. Washington State is very protective of Walla Walla Sweet Onions and prohibits use of the name unless onions are grown in that area. Hawaii also requires labels to specify the percentage of Hawaii-grown coffee in coffee blends.

Phony or adulterated syrup is not a big a problem in Vermont but it comes up from time to time, said Tristram Coffin, U.S. attorney for Vermont since 2009. He said this is the first case he’s aware of since he took office.

“The fundamental principal in my mind is you want to make sure the consumer, when they go to buy real maple syrup, is buying real maple syrup,” he said.

Vermont is quick to protect the integrity of its maple syrup, which accounted for $30 million in sales last year and is made from maple tree sap that’s boiled down and has no artificial ingredients.

“We work very hard to produce a high quality food product that bears the Vermont name that has a reputation to be good,” said Ruth Goodrich, a sugar maker and one of the owners of Goodrich Maple Farm in Cabot, Vt., who sells a gallon of syrup for $49. “Anytime a food product is adulterated, we really frown on that.”

Eleven years ago, a Vermont maple sugar distributor was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for adulterating maple sugar products with less expensive cane sugar.

Prosecutors said a federal jury found Lyman Jenkins, who then lived in Jericho and ran Vermont Country Maple, Inc., sometimes called Vermont Country Maple Enterprises, guilty of 20 counts of mail, wire and tax fraud.

Prosecutors said he sold hundreds of tons of cane sugar by passing it off as pure maple sugar. Aside from prison time, he also was ordered to pay $342,624 to some of the victims of the scheme and to serve five years of supervised released.

Then-U.S. Attorney Charles Tetzlaff said Jenkins not only defrauded consumers but also law-abiding maple syrup dealers and related business people.

It was several years before Jenkins’ low prices raised questions, according to court papers. Jenkins said at the time that the maple syrup he used to make maple sugar was diluted without his knowledge.

Earlier this year, Vermont went after the maker of Log Cabin All Natural Syrup, asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate whether the company violated federal guidelines by marketing the product as a natural one, noting that the ingredients included caramel color, xanthan gum – a natural thickener – and 4 percent maple syrup.

Afterward, Mountain Lakes, N.J.-based Pinnacle Foods announced last year it was getting rid of the product’s caramel coloring in response to complaints by producers of the real thing.

But Vermont officials still think the product’s label and packaging – a beige plastic jug resembling those used to hold the real deal – are misleading.

When McDonald’s came out with Fruit and Maple Oatmeal, Vermont officials complained that it didn’t contain real maple. McDonald’s agreed to give customers at its Vermont locations 100 maple syrup or maple sugar to be added to the oatmeal if they request it to settle complaints that the company improperly labeled the product as maple flavored in the state.

Over the years, Vermont has spot-checked syrup if it hears concerns about price or quality, but hasn‘t found anything and doesn’t have the staff or time to check all syrup, which amounted to 1.4 million gallons last year.

The syrup producers must grade their syrup for color, clarity, density and flavor using a series of tests – but not for purity.

The Coleman case is the only alleged fake maple syrup case to come up in the last five or six years, said Marckres. He suspects that’s because the price for syrup is high and consumers are seeking a good quality product.

He and others want to make sure they get it.

“It is the face of Vermont and we want to make sure that when consumers buy something that says pure Vermont maple syrup they get a good product that is from Vermont,” Marckres said.

Comments (57)

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  • right-wing-waco
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 10:40am

    IDIOTS! Are there not already laws regarding FRAUD? Why a new law? Just enforce the ones already written. Now we will have to have a law regarding selling fake…. everything, one at a time. How about a law restricting stupid laws?

    Report Post »  
    • Ruler4You
      Posted on October 31, 2011 at 10:58am

      Can you say “crony corporate welfare? “

      Report Post » Ruler4You  
    • mtnclimberjim
      Posted on October 31, 2011 at 11:26am

      And they let baby rapists go free, Jackasses!!!!!

      Report Post » mtnclimberjim  
    • CultureWarriors
      Posted on October 31, 2011 at 2:29pm

      You want to know what else is fraud. Eric Holder taking a paycheck. He either new about the Fast & Furious operation his boss ordered or he is so profoundly inept that taking a paycheck would be consider fraud.

      Report Post » CultureWarriors  
  • LOTO
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 10:28am

    Thank goodness!
    This is so ramped in our country and its about time it was stopped. Nothing makes me more angry than to ruin my pancakes with worthless fake syrup.
    Nothing. Not murder, not bank robbery, not auto theft, not drug dealing, not arson, not robbery.
    Those fakers should never be able to own a firearm again.
    Don’t even mess with my waffles!

    Report Post » LOTO  
  • MOLLYPITCHER
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 10:00am

    if you can’t tell the difference between real maple and fake thats your own problem. Theres a clear difference in the taste. Besides that Obama, Pelosi and their cronies should spend time in prison for being fake people.

    Report Post »  
    • RRFlyer
      Posted on October 31, 2011 at 10:40am

      You can’t tell before you taste it, and by then you have already bought it

      Report Post »  
  • JLGunner
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:54am

    There is a judge in Mass that sentenced a child molester to probation. Progressives in our country are such do-gooders.

    Report Post » JLGunner  
  • Brontefan
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:44am

    This is what our government is busy doing?? What there’s no real problems to solve? I cannot believe in this economic time of crisis and high unemployment we have a federal government that is wasting time with this…and writing an 800-page book of regulations for signs. We have got to take back our country!

    Report Post »  
  • Mess23
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:34am

    But it is OK to lie, especially when you can award yourself a Medal of Honor. Will you Senators DO YOUR JOBS and concentrate on the budget, deficit, debt, JOBS and borders!!! The cliff is right in front of you and you are worrying about maple sysrup!!! Pat, Bernie, you are why I am not moving back to VT!!!

    Report Post »  
  • bikerr
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:33am

    Now if they could just get the phony’s out of Washington we could really have a “Sweet” deal going!

    Report Post »  
  • Darla_K
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:24am

    If it sounds to good to be true it usually is.

    Report Post » Darla_K  
  • TRILO
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:20am

    The world is burning and we are worried about real vs fake maple syrup. Now we have to make a special class of products because maple syrup is more important than any other consumer product. There are already laws regarding fraud on the books. Prosecute under these laws.

    The biggest red flag that the syrup they were buying was fake; you do not buy something off the internet then go meet the truck driver along a highway. Talk about two idiots- the people who bought the fake syrup and the two senators pushing the legislation.

    Report Post » TRILO  
    • Darla_K
      Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:25am

      Agree… :)

      Report Post » Darla_K  
    • bikerr
      Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:36am

      And your doing what to help put out the fire?. Pot shots are sometimes fun but,Really?

      Report Post »  
    • JLGunner
      Posted on October 31, 2011 at 10:11am

      @ bikerr its called stating the obviouse not pot shots. There is nothing wrong in voicing an opinion about the rediculous.

      Report Post » JLGunner  
  • TxMadMac
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:19am

    Thank God Almighty you’ve solved this looming horrific problem for us ! THERE”S NOT A DAMN THING GOING ON IN THE WORLD BUT SYRUP ? Come on you guys.

    Report Post »  
    • JLGunner
      Posted on October 31, 2011 at 10:13am

      Lets put a prcie tag on this for us taxpayers. Now listen to barack tell us he needs us to pass his spending bill. I’m sure the addition tax dollars would be spent wisely.

      Report Post » JLGunner  
  • Annie Fields
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:19am

    To my Friends at The Blaze:

    GRADE B maple syrup is what you want. Gotta trust a New Englander on this. Might I even suggest you Google ~ Putnam Farm Maple Syrup ~ and I believe the second result is a multi-generational family operation in northern Vermont I have personally toured with my family and place regular, annual orders with, via their handy on line form!

    I am NOT related to these folks. Merely LOVE their old Yankee spirit, the long family tradition of their operation, and most importantly THEIR SYRUP.

    Remember – Get the GRADE B stuff. It’s got a MUCH fuller, more authentic, real, flavor.

    Report Post » Annie Fields  
  • Justus39
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:13am

    What a great country. We give people more time for misrepresenting Maple Syrup than for being here illegally and taking federal money fraudulently. As an illegal we will give you food stamps and stipends even after you commit felonies but dont you dare misrepresenting Maple Syrup. Are you kidding me?

    Report Post »  
  • Stoic one
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:10am

    Enforce the laws on the books. Problem solved.
    Get on to the real problems: out of control spending… lack of control on the borders…. Irrational international policy….. fraudulent behavior in Washington DC…..

    Report Post » Stoic one  
  • Annie Fields
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:07am

    We take our maple syrup pretty seriously here in New England.

    Aunt Jemima is grounds for execution.

    On the spot.

    I’m not seeing a problem here ;)

    Report Post » Annie Fields  
  • texasfarmer
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 8:55am

    These people have spent too much time locked away in the cabin.

    Report Post » texasfarmer  
    • rose-ellen
      Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:10am

      If it says maple syrup and it’s not-that is fraud. Plain and simple. And it should be prosecuted as such.What’s with this laissez faire-free for all hyper cpitalism-the public be damned ethos?This is why we need a consumer protection goverrnment agency-to keep the greedy ,unethical ayn rand libertarians at bay. And why OWS is much needed as a counterwight to this accepted corruption of american values.

      Report Post »  
  • let us prey
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 8:51am

    Federal guide lines for syrup, and yet they keep the borders wide open. Priorities?

    Report Post » let us prey  
    • 50Caliber
      Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:04am

      This is known as the “rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic” syndrome

      Report Post » 50Caliber  
    • mils
      Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:14am

      I laughed when I saw this story.
      Honestly, prison for syrup and nothing for stealing/destroying a country???

      Overkill.

      Report Post »  
  • blaaaaackwoman
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 8:51am

    Any o you fools should go to proison if you don’t hav Aunt Jemima syrup. Tree sap, that’s all that Vermont white boy yucky blech is.

    Report Post »  
    • Lantern
      Posted on October 31, 2011 at 9:26am

      I’ll take Aunt Jemima syrup any time, but I think they should put the bottle back the way it was. They slimmed out Aunt Jemima. BTW, I live in the area where one of the Aunt Jemimas (Rosa Washington Riles) was from.

      Report Post » Lantern  
  • scrapadapolis
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 8:47am

    If you don‘t know the supplier don’t buy..

    Report Post » scrapadapolis  
  • brntout
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 8:46am

    Is this another one of those “pass this bill before you find out what’s in it” bill? The names attatched to this legislation have my radar tweaked.Sure it has some provision for the tree huggers in there.

    Report Post »  
  • ColoradoMaverick
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 8:45am

    Colins and Snow are RINO’s. Typical liberal stunt, like we need the government to protect us from Maple syrup scams?? Really?

    Report Post » ColoradoMaverick  
  • Rickfromillinois
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 8:41am

    Too bad we can’t send all of those sponsors to prison for 5 years for imitating a U.S. Senator. Seriously, a Federal Law sending people to prison for 5 years for selling fake maple syrup? There are people who spend less time then that for murder. Considering all of the problems the country is in and these clowns are wasting time on this? Really? This is a national problem? What are the chances that the House will waste a single minute on it? This is nothing but a feel good waste of time.

    Report Post » Rickfromillinois  
  • ares338
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 8:39am

    I don’t think we need another set of laws for syrup. Just enforce existing labeling laws. Too many regulations already.

    Report Post » ares338  
  • itsmyfirstday
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 8:37am

    Fake syrup?? Never mind the economy or unemployment…

    Report Post » itsmyfirstday  
  • Smokey_Bojangles
    Posted on October 31, 2011 at 8:36am

    Dont get that bad of a penalty for selling Oregano as Weed.

    Report Post » Smokey_Bojangles  
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