GREEN BAY, Wis. — Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, one of the largest dairy co-ops in the country, welcomed the reintroduction of federal legislation in the House of Representatives that would halt the use of dairy terms on the labels of imitation dairy products.
Today, Reps. Derrick Van Orden (WI-03) and Angie Craig (MN-02) join others to reintroduce the DAIRY PRIDE Act. The bill would ensure that plant-based products would be prohibited from using dairy terms such as milk, yogurt and cheese on product labels. The move follows the introduction of the same legislation in the Senate last week.
“Nuts, seeds, plants and algae do not meet the current definition of ‘dairy products,’ yet the FDA fails to enforce their own standards of identity,” Edge President Brody Stapel said. “Our dairy farmers are frustrated by the confusion mislabeling causes for consumers. Studies have shown they don’t understand the substantial nutritional differences between true dairy products and nutritionally inferior imitation products.”
While the bill is similar to the version Edge has supported in the past, it also includes a new provision nullifying FDA’s recent draft guidance, which would continue to allow the use of the dairy term ‘milk’ on the labels of plant-based milk alternatives.
“Dairy farmers deserve fairness in the marketplace,” Stapel said. “We appreciate the support of dairy champions in Edge’s footprint like Reps. Derrick Van Orden and Angie Craig to help us reestablish appropriate FDA enforcement of their own regulations.”
