Rashida
The moment the pandemic struck, the world went into a toilet paper frenzy.
It makes sense if you think about it.
Who wants to run out of toilet paper while stuck at home?!
Along with toilet paper, essentials and medical supplies like Lysol spray, hand sanitizer, and masks faced predictable shortages.
So, what about… noodles?
Well, if I had to guess, it would be logical for very popular noodles like Spaghetti or Macaroni to face shortages.
Instead, a noodle I’d never heard of until researching this phenomenon faced shortages: Bucatini.
Here’s what happened.
The Unexpected Disappearance of Bucatini
Sparse shelves and missing basics have been the name of the game during the pandemic. At this point, many companies have adjusted enough to keep supplies at more regular levels. But back in the early days of the pandemic, stores, brands, and manufacturers were hit with a shock. It was normal to peruse the post-apocalyptic-esque aisles and see gaping holes where your favorite foods and essentials should be. Oftentimes, you could snag a few of them the next time you went shopping (unless it was toilet paper).
So, it was quite normal for all kinds of food to be far below their typical stock, and most people didn’t think twice if a few noodle variations were out of stock. But the thing with bucatini is that it didn’t reappear in a couple of days or by the next week. It seemingly went missing, and couldn’t be found at any store.
Even by the time the weather heated up and summer fell upon us, no bucatini. Walmart? Nope. Whole Foods? Nada. Trader Joe’s? Try again. Still no bucatini. If you drove to the nearest city, you still wouldn’t find any. So what the heck happened to it?
FDA Block
According to a representative at the pasta company Barilla, they had to reduce their pasta varieties during the early stages of the pandemic to meet the pasta demand. Bucatini is coveted for its restaurant-like quality, which explained the Barilla bucatini shortage. Barilla planned to bring back production beginning July 2020, which would restore the availability of their bucatini shortly.
Okay, so that little explanation about limiting SKUs temporarily makes sense. Many pasta companies are going to focus on the main pasta varieties to ensure that they can produce enough pasta to meet demands during the pandemic. As a shelf-stable food, it was certain to be popular.
But, that’s not the whole story.
I hate to break it to you, but bucatini did not go out of supply because of its intense popularity and high demand. I’m sure it’s a great noodle that some people absolutely love, but that’s not what happened.
The real answer behind the bucatini shortage is…*drumroll please*…the FDA! The FDA blocked the large bucatini company, De Cecco. Why, might you ask? Evidently, because the bucatini only had 10.9 mg of iron per pound, which falls short of the FDA’s required 13 mg per pound. While this does not present a health threat, it does not meet the FDA’s standards.
Muddy Practices
A rule’s a rule, right? De Cecco did not meet the FDA’s arbitrary standard so, off they go. Fair enough.
Except, maybe it wasn’t.
Bucatini aficionado, Rachel Handler, alleges that the FDA took action for one of De Cecco’s competitors. I’d like to imagine this couldn’t possibly be the case, but, alas.
The FDA has a past of demanding Italians make Italian food a certain way. Back in 1942, they seized 36,144 cans of tomato sauce from Rosario Raspanti. Raspanti learned the tomato-sauce trade from his father and created a canning factor in Mississippi. The FDA seized his tomato sauce without evidence that it was harmful. So, why on earth did they take it?
The FDA claimed that the sauce was not tomato sauce because it was thinner and didn’t have as much seasoning as others. Raspanti and others testified that the sauce consistency and level of seasoning were preferred by his consumers and that it was tomato sauce.
The FDA’s action may have been spurred by a competitor, but regardless, the competitors worked together to convince the judge that Raspanti did not know how to make tomato sauce. The trial witnesses included, “chemists employed by FDA and competitors, a plant manager employed by a competitor, a buyer and sales manager of a food wholesaler, a housewife, a chef, [and] a restaurant manager.” Raspanti’s tomato sauce had 6.5% tomato solids rather than the 8.37% that “true” tomato sauce was supposed to have.
Unfathomably, the ruling was that Raspanti had to relabel his sauce as a beverage to sell it in the United States.
What Really Happened to Bucatini?
It’s highly unlikely that the FDA inspects pasta at the border for the enrichment levels. Unlikely, unless they receive a tip and pressure to pursue it. Realistically, the bucatini shortage of 2020 came about from a combination of factors.
- The pandemic increased pasta demand.
- Bucatini is a specialty pasta that’s hard to make.
- De Cecco was barred from the U.S border in March.
The “why” behind the FDA’s sudden interest in De Cecco’s bucatini is not clear. Who brought this to the FDA?
We may never know who from “Big Pasta” reported De Cecco’s bucatini to the FDA, but clearly, they had the desired impact (at least for a while). While some shortages have a pretty clear catalyst, the bucatini incident is an example of a perfect storm, with several factors all leading to the shortage.
Ultimately, the shortage was short-lived. We do, in fact, have bucatini again in the United States. According to the Whole Foods website, even De Cecco bucatini.
