A. Barton Hinkle on Sabra’s Campaign to Get Government to Regulate Hummus

Sabra Dipping,
whose Chesterfield, Virginia, plant produces millions of tons
of hummus each month, is lobbying the Food and Drug Administration
to write new rules governing who can claim to make the stuff. In a
“citizen petition,” Sabra has asked Washington to declare
that only certain dipping sauces qualify as hummus, and only they
may be labeled as such. Specifically, Sabra
wants Washington to forbid the use of the word “hummus”
unless the dipping sauce is made out of chickpeas and contains at
least 5 percent tahini, or ground sesame seeds. To help federal
bureaucrats further understand the profound gravity of the issue,
Sabra draws their attention to a variety of imposters, such as a
certain “red pepper lentil hummus” (made with lentils) and a
certain “fat-free original hummus” (made — gasp! — without tahini).
But none of that, writes A. Barton Hinkle, is enough to disguise
the fact that the company is simply trying to cement its position
as the leading market incumbent by using the government to squash
the smaller competition.

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