A bipartisan group of 32 congressmen, including six from Wisconsin, have sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration asking it to enforce its definition of milk. That definition requires it be “obtained by the complete milking of one or more cows.”
The letter asks the FDA to stop plant-based products, such as soy, almond and rice, from being labeled as milk.
“I think that other products are trying to trade on dairy’s good name,” says Patrick Geoghegan, senior vice president with the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.
In Wisconsin, the dairy industry contributes $43 billion to the economy. This year, sales of milk nationally have been declining, dropping 11 percent.
“The beverage category is much more competitive today than it has ever been before. There are many, many more products to choose from and so I think some of these plant based beverages have certainly taken market share away from fluid milk,” Geoghegan said.
In 2016 plant-based products generated $1.4 billion in sales and have seen a 54 percent growth in the last five years.
«A lot of dairy farmers are growing some of these products, so it is not an issue with those industries. It is just simply what you decide to call a product and there are rules in place at the FDA. They are just asking that those rules be enforced and that they should not be allowed to trade on dairy’s good name,» Geoghegan said.
Source: Channel3000
Link: http://www.channel3000.com/news/money/dairy-farmers-want-fda-to-enforce-definition-of-milk/235208837
