The debate over what kinds of businesses should be allowed to call their products “milk,” “yogurt,” or “cheese” is spilling over in Washington.
The dairy industry has long pushed for the plant-based industry to come up with its own vocabulary for the foods and beverages it sells under these names. On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration is holding a daylong hearing to explore a range of nutrition topics, including whether the government needs to change its guidance on how companies should label their products.
The topic began drawing significant media attention last week, when FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that the agency planned to look at the issue. He acknowledged that the agency had not been enforcing the current definition for the word “milk,” which specifies it is a “lacteal secretion” from a cow, and noted that “an almond doesn’t lactate.” There is nothing in the definition mentioning nuts, rice, coconut, or other plant-based liquids that have long called their beverages “milk.”
To the dairy industry, having the FDA enforce its definition of milk has been a major goal for nearly two decades. Milk consumption and sales have fallen during that time, and prices have plunged. Meanwhile, more U.S. customers have been turning to plant-based alternatives.
The dairy industry argues that plant-based alternatives have benefited from the nutritional status that customers typically have associated with dairy products. Milk is known as a source of protein, calcium, vitamins A and D, and potassium, standards that the dairy industry says are not met by plant-based alternative drinks.
“There is a reason they want to continue using ‘milk’ and ‘cheese,’” said Chris Galen, spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation. “These terms have a nutritional halo.”
Galen points out that plant-based industries are not allowed to use these terms in Canada and the European Union, and that certain companies that sell in the U.S. use different labels in these other countries.
“These products are doing fine selling themselves in markets where the prohibitions are much stronger than they are here,” he said.
But industries selling dairy alternatives counter that buyers know exactly what they are getting. They are deliberately choosing alternatives because of allergies, out of concern for animal welfare or the environment, for religious or dietary reasons, or because they might prefer the taste of one product over another, they say.
“We don’t think milk has to come from a cow because the dictionary doesn’t say so,” said Michele Simon, executive director of the Plant Based Foods Association. “We have a number of members that feel very strongly that milk is a concept that conveys a functionality.”
Simon also pointed out that the FDA’s definition is already limited to a certain animal: cows. The definition does not include goats, sheep, or camel, all of which are milked and sold to U.S. consumers.
“It’s just an indication of how silly the whole thing is,” she said.
John Cox, executive director of the Soyfoods Association of North America, said consumers have gotten used to certain names, citing examples such as peanut butter, almond butter, and apple butter.
“As we all know, these products don’t contain dairy-derived butter, but no one is confused as to the contents of either product,” he said.
The Plant-Based Foods Association has found that buyers are used to seeing particular terms that resonate with them. Alternative terms such as “beverages” or “drinks” tend to be associated with alcohol or soda, the group found. Changing labeling would be difficult and costly for companies, particularly startups, Simon said.
The debate also has surfaced in Congress. A bill called the DAIRY PRIDE Act would ban the sale of food that uses the name of a dairy product unless it comes from a hooved animal. In a hearing with Gottlieb in April, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., the author of the Senate bill, pressed for the FDA’s definition to be upheld. The backer of the House bill, Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., agrees.
“We think consumers should have the benefit of the real definition,” he told the Washington Examiner. “Labels should have some meaning. There is particular benefits to milk that are not included in plants.”
The technical term for how the FDA describes food and drink is known as a “standard of identity.” Congress created these standards to protect consumers from being tricked into buying something different from what they expect. During the mid-1880s, for instance, milk distributors would add flour and chalk dust to their drinks to make them whiter.
It’s not clear which direction the FDA will go in, and the back and forth will take at least a year to play out. The FDA may broaden the definition of milk to include nuts and other plant-based foods or it may keep the current definition. It may issue guidance making recommendations that plant-based foods specifically note that their products are “dairy free.” Regardless, all sides acknowledged lawsuits are certain.
The FDA is accepting comments during the event Thursday and until the end of August, and industry groups plan to weigh in on this topic. Because the FDA hasn’t been enforcing the definition of these products for decades, it would first solicit comments and then possibly issue guidance about how it plans to enforce the definition.
Aaron Stauffacher, associate director of government affairs for Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, which has 800 members across nine Midwestern states, flew into D.C. for the FDA meeting. Members of the co-op believe that the FDA should enforce its current definition and that plant-based products should use their own terminology, he said.
“Our farmers feel very strongly about this issue because they are firm believers in the nutritional product they have poured their lives into producing,” he said.
The Peanut and Tree Nut Processors Association, meanwhile, said it wasn’t prepared to share its position.
“We are actively engaged in the topic and tracking this and other matters related to FDA regulatory matters,” said Jeannie Shaughnessy, the group’s executive director. “We will hop in and participate in the formalized process for commenting and seeing where things go.”
The meeting Thursday is expected to broadly focus on nutrition issues, but the recent statements from Gottlieb have increased awareness about the dairy debate in particular.
“Even though the FDA did list a number of topics, I think the sideways announcement that came out might mean this will be more of a focus that they bargained for,” Simon said.
