A New Wrinkle for the Prune Industry

Is a prune by any other name a “dried plum�? Or is it still just a prune?

If it were up to members of the California prune industry, prunes would have a name change--and, with a new name, they hope, a new image as well.

Targeting younger consumers, particularly women ages 35 to 50, the state’s prune growers and marketers want to start calling their product “dried plums.� As “dried plums,� rather than “prunes,� they believe Americans will stop regarding eating prunes solely as a way for seniors to maintain regularity.

“Our intent is not to eliminate the name prunes, but to establish an alternative name that would offer a more positive connotation than prunes--which are viewed by many U.S. adults as a laxative for old people,� Richard L. Peterson, executive director of the California Prune Board, wrote in a letter last summer to the Food and Drug Administration, which would have to approve the labeling change.

“The negative imagery associated with prunes acts as a barrier to trial and purchase of prunes,� he added. “Just hearing the name ‘prune’ evokes these negative perceptions.�

The FDA, which has jurisdiction over processed and packaged food products, has reviewed the request and asked the industry to provide more information on the impact the name change would have on consumers. The agency also is seeking the industry’s thinking as to why prunes are marketed more successfully in Europe--where they are still called prunes--than they are in the United States.

Also, FDA officials are concerned that the term “dried plums� is being used by a dried version of another kind of plum--French plums--that differ from those most frequently used to make prunes.

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“What is the fuss about?� says Joe Levitt, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, who can’t understand why prune people are in such a stew over this.

“All we’re trying to do is make sure consumers know what they are getting when they buy a product; we want to be sure that when a product has a name change, people know what it means,� he adds.

The industry stresses that prunes are, in fact, dried plums. Even the dictionary says so--Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged defines the prune as “a variety of plum which dries without spoiling; such a plum when dried; any plum.�

Moreover, Peterson points out, “there are numerous examples of other foods with more than one accepted name, including garbanzo beans (chickpeas), hazelnuts (filberts) and hot dogs (wieners or franks).�

The prune industry is eager to extol the joys of prunes--that they are sweet, moist and juicy, a great fat substitute (in whipped form), and loaded with fiber, vitamins and antioxidants--and thinks a name change will make it that much easier.

“Dried fruit is coming back, and prunes have changed over the last 20 years,� says industry spokeswoman Peggy Castaldi, director of marketing for the California Prune Board.

“They’re not as dry as they used to be--you used to have to stew them to make them taste good,� Castaldi says. “Today they are moister and sweeter thanks to new agricultural techniques and new and better varieties.�

The industry has proposed a phase-in period in which both names would appear on packages for a set period of time--most likely one year--to allow consumers to get used to the new term. The second phase would complete the transition to having “dried plums� as the only name on the package.

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The state’s two senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, have written to the FDA in a jointly signed letter supporting the name change, and complaining about how sluggishly the request is being moved through the regulatory system.

“What appears simple� has turned into “a complicated interpretation of federal statutes and regulations,� they wrote.

The two Democrats, aware that more than 70% of the world’s supply of prunes is produced in California, are prodding the FDA to move faster, insisting that agency resistance “could hamper legitimate efforts by California farmers to more aggressively and creatively market their products.�

For its part, the FDA says it is moving as quickly as possible, and that it is taking the issue seriously. A name change for prunes, however, just isn’t a high priority in the context of other, more pressing matters, such as food safety, they say.

“We need to keep in perspective the relative importance of this, compared to other things we do,� Levitt says. “While we try to be sensitive to commercial needs, we aren’t going to be able to get to those issues rapidly. Food safety is at the top of our list--which is where it should be.�

And, he points out, “We haven’t said no.�

Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer group that monitors food issues, thinks the issue is ripe for “a study by a blue-ribbon committee at the National Academy of Sciences--and an act of Congress.�

And he adds: “Let the industry call prunes ‘dried plums.’ But the label should also state ‘(prunes)’ so that consumers won’t be making any mistakes causing a quick pit stop.�

A plum deal indeed.