Is almond milk really milk?

Dairy farms protest labels on non-dairy drinks, saying they mislead consumers that nutritionally they are similar to cow’s milk

f milk comes from a plant, can you still call milk?

Not according to the dairy industry. Facing growing competition from dairy alternatives like almond, soy and coconut milk, America’s dairy farmers are fighting back, with an assist from the Congress. Their goal: To stop companies from calling their plant-based products yogurt, milk or cheese. Dairy farmers say the practice misleads consumers into thinking that nondairy milk is nutritionally similar to cow’s milk.

A bipartisan group of 32 members of Congress is asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to crack down on companies that call plant-based beverages “milk”. They say FDA regulations define milk as a “lacteal secretion” obtained by milking “one or more healthy cows”. Proposed legislation from Representative Peter Welch (Democrat, from Vermont), and Senator Tammy Baldwin (Democrat, from Wisconsin), a state known for its cheese, suggests a slightly broader definition. Their bill would require the FDA to target milk, yogurt and cheese products that do not contain milk from “hooved mammals”.

“The bottom line for us is that milk is defined by the FDA, and we’re saying to the FDA: Enforce your definition,” Welch said. But critics say consumers know exactly what they are buying when they choose almond or soy milk instead of dairy milk. “There’s no cow on any of these containers of almond milk or soy milk,” said Michele Simon, executive director of the Plant Based Foods Association. “No one is trying to fool consumers.”

And what about other nondairy products with dairy names? Will milk of magnesia, cocoa butter, cream of wheat and peanut butter have to change their names as well?

Cow’s milk was once one of America’s most iconic beverages. But Americans drink 37 per cent less of it today than they did in 1970, according to the Department of Agriculture. Mintel, a market research firm, found that negative health perceptions were driving the decline in sales of cow’s milk.

Meanwhile, dairy milk alternatives made from almonds, soy, cashews and coconuts have exploded in popularity in recent years. Plant-based milks, with brand names like Almond Breeze and Silk, are sold in the dairy aisle and still represent a fraction of the beverage market, but sales continue to grow. Many consumers consider almond milk a healthier alternative to cow’s milk. The dairy industry says that’s not true. They point out that milk has nine essential nutrients that are necessary for good health, like calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and potassium. The industry has also created ads claiming that milk has up to eight times as much protein as almond milk and fewer ingredients and additives.

‘Common or usual’ names

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There is also debate over the nutritional merits of cow’s milk. In 2013, for example, two nutrition experts, Walter Willett and David Ludwig, both at Harvard, published an editorial in JAMA Pediatrics, arguing that healthy adults who get plenty of vegetables, nuts and protein in their diets may not get any extra benefit from cow’s milk. They also raised concerns about hormones in milk and the added sugar in the chocolate milk served in many schools.

As the dairy industry continues to press its case, producers of nondairy milks are fighting back. The Plant Based Foods Association sent letters to the FDA, stating that plant-based milks were properly labelled with their “common or usual” names. One place the dairy industry has always found support is in Washington. The industry has spent millions of dollars lobbying the federal government, which strongly encourages Americans to drink plenty of milk. The government’s dietary guidelines recommend that Americans consume up to three cups of low-fat milk or dairy products each day, saying it contains many essential nutrients such as protein, calcium, vitamin D and potassium.

Baldwin said that one of the reasons she introduced the Dairy Pride Act was that her dairy-farmer constituents wrote to her with their concerns. Among those was Janet Clark, a third-generation dairy farmer who runs Vision Aire Farms about 129km north of Milwaukee. Clark said she and her family have struggled as milk prices have slumped and the costs of operating their farm have risen. “Milk has already been defined as coming from a dairy animal. We just want that to be enforced in the marketing in supermarkets — that what is being called milk comes from a dairy animal.” Anahad O’Connor is a reporter and author on the topics of health, diet and weight loss.