February 27, 2023 at 12:19 p.m.
Baldwin proposes bill to overturn "FDA's anti-dairy guidance"
Fierce battle ensues over labeling plant-based beverages as milk
Baldwin called the guidance unfair. The FDA's draft guidance, "Labeling of Plant-based Milk Alternatives and Voluntary Nutrient Statement," allows plant-based products to continue to use dairy terms despite not containing dairy nor having the nutritional value of dairy products, the senator said.
"America's dairy farmers work hard to produce second-to-none products with the highest nutritional value, and plant-based products should not be getting away with using their good name," Baldwin and Risch said in a statement. "This misguided rule will hurt America's dairy farmers and our rural communities. Since the FDA is failing to enforce its own definitions for dairy terminology and stop imitation products from deceiving consumers, we will be reintroducing our DAIRY PRIDE Act to stand up for America's dairy farmers and the quality products they make."
Current FDA regulations define dairy products as being from dairy animals, and, while existing federal regulations are clear, Baldwin says the FDA has not enforced those labeling regulations, leading to a rapid increase in the labeling of plant-based products as 'milk,' 'yogurt,' and 'cheese.'
What's more, the senator asserted, the FDA this week issued draft guidance that contradicts its own regulation and definitions, allowing non-dairy products to use dairy names, violating the Administrative Procedure Act and hurting dairy farmers and producers.
The senators' Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, milk, and cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday Act (DAIRY PRIDE Act) would require the FDA to issue guidance for nationwide enforcement of mislabeled plant-based products within 90 days and require the FDA to report to Congress two years after enactment to hold the agency accountable for the update in their enforcement obligations.
The legislation would also nullify any guidance that is not consistent with dairy standards of identity, including the one related to labeling plant-based products as milk.
A battle of industries
The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation (WFBF) threw its support behind the legislation and blasted the FDA for looking the other way on its own regulation.
"Consumers choose milk because it is a trusted term associated with quality and nutrition," WFBF president Kevin Krentz said. "This trust has been built over generations of Wisconsin dairy farmers who take pride in producing a quality product with regulations that reflect that quality. Plant-based milk alternatives are not milk. They aren't held to the same regulations and therefore should not be labeled as milk."
Krentz said Wisconsin dairy farmers produce the best, most nutritious milk on the market while plant-based products are allowed to coop the label for their own benefit.
"The FDA cannot choose which regulation to enforce and which it will ignore," he said. "In this case, federal regulations are clear and FDA still chose to issue guidance in conflict with their own definitions, hurting Wisconsin farmers in the process. If federal agencies are going to ignore their own regulations, Congress must act to force compliance and protect farmers."
Krentz said the WFBF supported Baldwin's bill because it would force the FDA to abide by its definitions.
In a bit of a twist, the Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative expressed disappointment that plant-based products could still be labeled as dairy but said the FDA guidance as a whole was positive.
In fact, Edge president Brody Stapel said the long-awaited draft guidance on labeling plant-based milk alternatives was a step forward and moved closer to accurately labeling imitation dairy products.
"The co-op is looking forward to working with the FDA and administrator Dr. Robert Califf by providing comments to express the importance of accurate labeling of plant-based milk alternatives for consumers and farmers," Stapel said. "Accurate labeling of imitation dairy products, especially milk, has frustrated dairy farmers for far too long. The nutritional benefits of dairy products are superior to imitation products, and consumers should be well-informed using proper labeling and terms."
Stapel said dairy foods, including milk, are part of a healthy eating pattern and provide consumers with healthy and nutritious food options. He also said he appreciated the FDA's acknowledgment that consumers generally do not understand that imitation milk products lack the same nutritional benefits as dairy milk.
Due to that misconception, Stapel said, consumers can often miss out on critical nutrients essential to a healthy diet, but the FDA's guidance recommends voluntary nutrient statements for labeling plant-based milk alternatives, and the declaration must convey how the product nutritionally compares with dairy milk.
However, the cooperative president said he was disappointed to see the FDA continue to allow the dairy term 'milk' when labeling imitation products, violating the agency's existing standard of identity for 'milk.'
"Dairy farmers reinvest in the dairy brand through our checkoff dollars to provide research, marketing and advertising the numerous health benefits of their dairy products," he said. "Dairy farmers work tirelessly to provide safe, nutritious milk for Americans, and inferior products have capitalized off dairy's good name for far too long."
The FDA regulates the labeling of food products, and this guidance should inform the plant-based milk alternative industry on the appropriate labeling of their beverages. However, Stapel said, the guidance only covers the 'milk' category, not other dairy product alternatives.
Stapel said the guidance is a first draft that opens a 60-day comment period and he said Edge would examine additional details within the draft guidance and provide FDA with further feedback during the comment period.
On the other of the issue are such groups as the Good Food Institute and Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA), both of which believe the FDA is going too far in recommending that plant-based milk product producers directly compare their products' nutrition to that of dairy milk.
"We commend the FDA's acknowledgement that consumers are affirmatively choosing plant-based milks because of their many benefits for human and planetary health," PBFA CEO Rachel Dreskin said. "However, we see many suggestions in this proposal that are unfairly burdensome to companies, and frankly, treat plant-based products differently than any other foods in the market."
Specifically, Dreskin says the FDA's draft guidance implies that the inherent nutritional content of plant-based milk products are somehow inferior to that of dairy milk products, despite the fact many of the nutrients boasted by animal-based milk are the result of fortification.
"This suggestion is not only discriminatory towards the plant-based sector -no other products, including different brands of animal-based milk, are targeted by this guidance - but it also threatens to jeopardize growth of the innovative plant-based foods industry," Dreskin stated.
Plant-based products made from the liquid extracts of plant materials but marketed as milk include cashew, coconut, and hemp. The most popular plant-based beverage labeled as milk is almond milk.
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