The Senate has defeated a measure that would have protected plant-based companies who want to keep calling some of their dairy-free foods “milk,” “yogurt,” or “cheese.”
The amendment, by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, would have blocked the Food and Drug Administration from using government funds to enforce its definitions on all food and drink. It was defeated 84-14.
Banning these products from using the dairy terms may happen at the administrative level. The Trump administration is starting to consider whether to enforce the definition of “milk,” “yogurt,” and “cheese,” something that the dairy industry has long asked for as sales have fallen.
[Opinion: Should we call it ‘Goat Fluid’?: The FDA’s ridiculous definition of milk]
Currently the FDA’s language defines “milk” a “lacteal secretion” from a cow, so products such as soy, rice, almond, or coconut milk do not meet the definition. The FDA has these definitions, known as “standards of identity,” to protect consumers from being tricked into buying something different from what they expect.
The dairy industry argues that the plant-based alternatives don’t contain the same levels of vitamins and minerals, and so they shouldn’t be marketed as being similar to dairy milk.
Enforcing the definition would cause companies to change their labels to omit the terms, something they already do in Canada and the European Union.
Plant-based companies have said that the FDA should not move to have them change their vocabulary, saying that customers are well aware that they are not buying a dairy product and purposefully seek those alternatives.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., spoke against the amendment on the Senate floor. She has introduced a bill called the DAIRY PRIDE Act that would ban the sale of food that uses the name of a dairy product unless it comes from a hooved animal.
Through its vote, senators demonstrated they either agree that the terms should be limited only to the dairy industry or that the FDA should move forward in making a decision.
