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Guidelines in the works to decide what plant-based milk alternatives can be called

AP file photo The ingredients label for soy milk are seen in a grocery store in New York. Soy, oat, almond and other drinks that bill themselves as “milk” can keep using the name, according to draft federal rules released Wednesday in February.

By SARA HOLTHOUSE

sholthouse@post-journal.com

In recent months, the Food and Drug Administration has been working on a draft of federal rules that will allow for plant-based alternatives to milk to continue to be allowed to be called milk.

More recently, the New York Farm Bureau has released comments, asking the FDA to reconsider. The Farm Bureau has asked the FDA to amend the draft guidance to prohibit the use of milk or any other dairy terms to be used in reference to non-dairy substitutes unless the product follows proper use of imitation terminology. This follows a similar fashion of labeling alternatives to milk in places like Canada and some places in Europe.

The Farm Bureau has said that consumers often do not understand the nutritional differences between the two.

Locally, for some the argument seems unnecessary, as the consumer knows what they are purchasing, and plant-based alternatives to milk provide ways that some people who are unable to consume dairy products can have some type of milk. And yet this argument has been going on for years.

“This debate has been going on since I was a young kid,” said Sarah Nickerson of Clymer. “I see it in so many ways and from so many angles.”

Other local dairy farmers agree that the term milk should only be used for what it is — a dairy product.

“The word milk has always been associated with dairy and all that our product represents,” Heather Woodis of Dewittville said. “Dairy milk is the original ‘all natural’ product. In its purest form, straight from the cow, it possesses so many of the nutrients we need, including vitamins, minerals and protein. Cows do the work of turning a hard to digest food source, like grass, into a more easily digestible form.”

Woodis said she understands and appreciates that some people have intolerances for dairy and need alternatives, and that they should be allowed to choose. She questioned why the alternatives need to be labeled as dairy.

“These alternatives are juices, plain and simple,” Woodis said. “Their health benefits are small and most are added to a final product. And I question why, if they are so healthy and so good for you and the planet, do they need to have a milk or dairy label? Why can’t they stand on their own marketing legs? Why do they need to advertise using dairy related imagery and ‘talking points’? I’m all for choices but I am incredibly over both fear marketing and using marketing techniques to ‘imply’ things that aren’t true. And I don’t just feel that way as a dairy farmer talking about dairy alternatives but as a consumer talking about everything.”

BettyJo Nickerson of Sherman agreed with Woodis, saying dairy farmers take pride in their products and the health benefits they provide.

“While we definitely understand that some individuals have sensitivities to dairy, we are very excited about the advancements the industry as a whole has taken to produce and market new real dairy products for these individuals to try,” Nickerson said. “That being said, milk is milk and no other product out there should be labeled as such.”

Nickerson pointed out that there are not many — if any at all — other products on the market that are labeled in this way, saying that a product needs to be labeled and identified as what it is. “Juice is juice, milk is milk,” Nickerson said. “I honestly do not understand why these products prefer to be lumped in with milk instead of being proud of what they are and being truthful with the consumer about what they are. Truly I think it’s confusing to consumers. There is room at the table for all the products, and perhaps even a need, but labeling should be truthful.”

According to a recent Associated Press report, the number of plant-based drinks now includes dozens of varieties, including cashew, coconut, hemp and quinoa-based beverages. Although the drinks are made from the liquid extracts of plant materials, they are frequently labeled – and described – as “milks.” In the U.S., almond milk is the most popular variety, but oat milk has been seeing the fastest growth.

For most consumers, sale of milk from cows ($12.3 billion) is far more than nondairy milk ($2.5 billion).

Following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s proposed guidance allowing nut, oat, soy, and other non-dairy products to use the name “milk,” Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jim Risch (R-ID), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Peter Welch (D-VT) have introduced the DAIRY PRIDE Act of 2023 to require non-dairy products made from nuts, seeds, plants, and algae to no longer be labeled with dairy terms.

“For too long, plant-based products with completely different nutritional values have wrongly masqueraded as dairy,” Risch said. “This dishonest branding is misleading to consumers and a disservice to the dairy farmers who have committed their lives to making milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and more nutritious products Idahoans enjoy every day. It is past time that the Food and Drug Administration enforce its own definitions for dairy terminology, prevent imitation products from deceiving consumers, and start advocating for the farmers who feed us.”

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