It was welcomed by the National Milk Producers Federation, but it said this does not go far enough.
It wants politicians to pass a DAIRY PRIDE act that would ban the use of dairy terms such as milk, butter and cheese to describe plant-based products.
The federation said that “by acknowledging both the utter lack of nutritional standards prevalent in plant-based beverages and the confusion over nutritional value that’s prevailed in the marketplace because of the unlawful use of dairy terms, FDA’s proposed guidance today will provide greater transparency that’s sorely needed for consumers to make informed choices.”
But it said FDA has failed to enforce its regulations in the past and so it is using circular reasoning to allow the industry to continue using dairy-industry names for its plant-based products.
We reject the agency’s circular logic that FDA’s past labeling enforcement inaction now justifies labeling such beverages “milk” by designating a common and usual name. Past inaction is poor precedent to justify present and future inaction, the federation said.
