Idaho’s senators think you’re too dumb to know that almond milk doesn’t come from cows

Lest you think Congress isn’t getting any work done these days, consider the Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, milk, and cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday Act, otherwise known as the DAIRY PRIDE Act. (It must have taken a whole team of staff members just to come up with that acronym.)

And lest you think there’s no such thing as bipartisanship in Washington, the Dairy Pride Act is sponsored by Idaho’s Republican Sen. Jim Risch and Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, which makes sense, since Idaho and Wisconsin are two of the top dairy-producing states in the country.

So what’s behind this apparent need for an act of Congress?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently proposed guidance that would allow nut, oat, soy and other nondairy products to use the name “milk.”

The Dairy Pride Act would require nondairy products made from nuts, seeds, plants and algae to no longer be labeled with dairy terms such as milk, yogurt or cheese.

“For too long, plant-based products with completely different nutritional values have wrongly masqueraded as dairy,” Risch said in a press release. “This dishonest branding is misleading to consumers and a disservice to the dairy farmers who have committed their lives to making milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and more nutritious products Idahoans enjoy every day.”

You might rightly ask yourself, “Don’t they have more important things to do?”

Worrying about a label on a carton of almond milk is hardly a priority for most Americans.

The legislation assumes that you’re incredibly dumb. Americans are smart enough to know that almond milk doesn’t come from cows. Consumers are making informed decisions based on nutrition considerations, environmental concerns, allergies and lactose intolerance.

If Congress wants to increase regulations on something, perhaps it should start with rail safety rules that could have prevented last month’s disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

There are plenty of better things our senators could be working on.

An act to “protect” consumers from a milk label isn’t one of them.