U.S. dairy producers want crackdown on ‘fake milk’

FOOD FIGHT GOES TO FDA

Is “fake milk” spoiling the dairy industry’s image? Dairy producers are calling for a crackdown on the almond, soy and rice “milks” they say are masquerading as the real thing and cloud the meaning of milk for shoppers. And a group that advocates for plantbased products, the Good Food Institute, countered by asking the Food and Drug Administration this week to say foods can use terms such as “milk” and “sausage,” so long as they’re modified to make clear what’s in them.

It’s the latest dispute about what qualifies a food as authentic, many of them stemming from developments in manufacturing practices and specialized diets.

DiGiorno’s frozen chicken “wyngz” were fodder for comedian Stephen Colbert. An eggless, vegan spread provoked the ire of egg producers by calling itself “mayo.” And as far back as the 1880s, margarine was dismissed as “counterfeit butter” by a Wisconsin lawmaker.

The U.S. actually spells out the required characteristics for a range of products such as French dressing, canned peas and raisin bread. It’s these federal standards of identity that often trigger the food fights.

Though soy milk and almond milk have become commonplace terms, milk’s standard of identity says it is obtained by the “complete milking of one or more healthy cows.” That’s a point the dairy industry is now emphasizing, with the support of lawmakers who last month introduced legislation calling for the FDA to enforce the guidelines.

“Mammals produce milk, plants don’t,” said Jim Mulhern, president of the National Milk Producers Federation.

The federation says it has been trying to get the FDA to enforce the standard since at least 2000 , and that the lack of enforcement has led to a proliferation of imitators playing “fast and loose” with dairy terms. Those products often refer to themselves as “soymilk” or “almondmilk,” single words the dairy industry says is a way to get around guidelines for “milk.”