It seems like everywhere we look lately almond, cashew, or soy milk is among the ranks of coffee creamer options at the local café, among the dairy aisle, and the subject of debate for what to add to cereal in the morning.
For people with trouble eating dairy, or those who choose not to consume animal products, these “milks” are likely a welcome addition to the supermarket or coffee bar. But for the dairy industry, they’re becoming the subject of a serious debate – and even being considered imposters.
These products, marketed as “milk,” have dairy farmers heated. In fact, the U.S. Congress has introduced a bill, called the DAIRY PRIDE Act, which is self-explanatory but also stands for “defending against imitations and replacements of yogurt, milk, and cheese to promote regular intake of dairy every day.” Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Democratic Rep. Peter Welch of Vermont introduced the bill, not surprising considering their respective states yield a significant amount of dairy products each year.

The bill’s summary explains that these nut and soy milks calling themselves milk “hurts dairy farmers that work tirelessly to ensure their dairy products meet FDA standards and provide the public with nutritious food. It has also led to the proliferation of mislabeled plant-based alternative products that contain a range of ingredients and nutrients that are often not equivalent to the nutrition content of dairy products.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been lax about enforcing federal standards that enforce that milk has to be an animal byproduct, which has resulted in a surge of non-dairy milks hitting the market by storm. The DAIRY PRIDE bill hopes to make the FDA simply do its job, not eliminate these products from the market.
Due to these unenforced standards, consumers are misled into thinking these highly processed products are nutritionally equivalent to dairy milk. These products are often made by taking a bunch of pulverized nuts or seeds, mixing them with water, emulsifiers, whiteners and sugar, add some vitamins, and then pouring the result into a carton and inappropriately labeling it “milk.” While some do contain vitamins and minerals, they are added back in after processing, unlike how they’re naturally found in dairy products.

Popularity of these drinks has skyrocketed in the last few years; I think it’s safe to say it’s a combination of good marketing and lack of federal enforcement on these products. Sales of almond milk alone grew more than 200% from 2001 to 2015.
The FDA seems to side with the dairy farmer though, however lax the standards may be. By their definition – a product can be labeled milk if it fits there guidelines.
“Milk is the lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows. Milk that is in final package form for beverage use shall have been pasteurized or ultrapasteurized, and shall contain not less than 8 1/4 percent milk solids not fat and not less than 3 1/4 percent milkfat. Milk may have been adjusted by separating part of the milkfat therefrom, or by adding thereto cream, concentrated milk, dry whole milk, skim milk, concentrated skim milk, or nonfat dry milk. Milk may be homogenized.”
But supporters of “alternative milks” are both defending the right to the use of the word milk; saying allowing them not to be is a violation of free speech, as well as defending the use of the word at all.
The Plant Based Foods Association, which represents companies like Tofurky, says standards of identity were created to prevent companies from passing off cheap, low quality ingredients on customers. But the group says that’s not what soy, almond, and rice milk makers are trying to do.
The Good Food Institute, which is a nonprofit advocating for plant-based foods, filed a petition with the FDA defending the products continued use of the word milk, citing the First Amendment.
So, what do you think? Should we consider these products milk? Or something else?
Sources:
https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/press-releases/dairy-pride-act
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/fake-milk-at-center-of-food-fight/article_c24e2213-25d0-525f-84ce-8bc0ca6dd145.html
http://www.refinery29.com/2017/03/143550/almond-milk-dairy-pride-act
http://www.wisfarmer.com/story/opinion/contributors/2017/02/24/buyer-beware-not-all-milk-created-equal/98384854/
https://www.buzzfeed.com/venessawong/should-almond-milk-be-allowed-to-call-itself-milk?utm_term=.qflPDKpXl#.lvJqBj4AO
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=131.110
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