Plant-based dairy alternatives made from nuts, seeds, plants, and algae would be prohibited from being used as dairy terms on milk, yoghurt, or cheese products under bipartisan legislation introduced in both the Senate and the House. It will be decided by Congress later this year.
Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho introduced the Defending Against Imitations and Replacement of Yogurt, Milk, and Cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday Act, also known as the Dairy Pride Act of 2023, on Feb. 28 in the Senate. Reps. John Joyce, R-Pa., Ann Kuster, D-NH, Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, Joe Courtney, D-Conn., Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., and Angie Craig, D-Minn. introduced the same legislation in the House on March 8.
The legislation was prompted by the Food and Drug Administration’s publication of draught guidance on the naming of plant-based foods marketed and sold as milk substitutes. According to the FDA, a plant-based milk alternative may be labelled as “milk, beverage, or drink.”
The FDA would be required to issue draught guidance for nationwide enforcement of mislabeled imitation dairy products within 90 days, final guidance within 180 days, and report to Congress two years after enactment to hold the agency accountable for its enforcement obligations under the Dairy Pride Act. The FDA is taking public comments on its draught guidance until April 24.
Many dairy industry representatives, including Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, support the legislation. “Dairy Pride is needed more than ever,” Mulhern says, “now that FDA has offered guidance on the labelling of plant-based beverages that, while taking steps in the right direction, ultimately doesn’t remedy the problem it seeks to solve — which is the proven confusion among consumers created when plant-based beverages steal dairy terms to make their products appear healthier than they really are. The FDA has acknowledged the problem of nutritional ambiguity but has not provided a comprehensive solution.
“Dairy Pride solves the problem by requiring the FDA to enforce its own identity standards, which state that’milk’ is a term reserved for animal products and that plant-based drinks or beverages should not be permitted to use dairy terms in their labelling.”
Guidance that contradicts itself
Mulhern is echoed by Jeff Lyon, general manager of FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative in Madison. “It is extremely frustrating that the FDA’s recently released draught dairy guidance contradicts their own regulation and definitions, allowing non-dairy products to use dairy names,” he says.
“For years, FarmFirst has been engaged on the issue to require FDA to enforce milk standards of identity, which prohibit using dairy terms on non-dairy products. “We applaud Sen. Baldwin for her tireless efforts to hold the FDA accountable, including her direct communication with the FDA and the reintroduction of the Dairy Pride Act,” Lyon adds.
According to Kevin Krentz, president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, the FDA cannot pick and choose which regulations to enforce and which to ignore. In this case, federal regulations are clear, but the FDA chose to issue guidance that contradicted its own definitions, harming Wisconsin farmers.
“If federal agencies are going to disregard their own regulations, Congress must act to force compliance and protect farmers,” says Krentz. “The Wisconsin Farm Bureau fully supports Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s introduction of the Dairy Pride Act, which would require the FDA to adhere to their own definitions.”
According to Darin Von Ruden, president of Wisconsin Farmers Union, misleading labelling has run rampant in the American food industry, confusing consumers and putting dairy farmers at a disadvantage. “It’s past time to clear up the confusion surrounding food labels by acknowledging that’milk’ comes from mammals, and items masquerading as such are frequently not nutritionally interchangeable.”
Plant-based dairy alternatives made from nuts, seeds, plants, and algae would be prohibited from being used as dairy terms on milk, yoghurt, or cheese products under bipartisan legislation introduced in both the Senate and the House. It will be decided by Congress later this year.
