Milk Producers File Petition Over Label Issue

Last week, the National Milk Producers Federation filed a citizen petition with the FDA, outlining a labeling solution to the use of dairy terms on non-dairy products as the agency considers public input.  The petition reinforces current FDA labeling regulations, with some additional clarification, to show how marketplace transparency can be enhanced and consumer harm from confusion over nutritional content can be reduced, according to NMPF.

Federation Executive Vice President Tom Balmer said the petitions “lays out a constructive solution to the false and misleading labeling practices existing in the marketplace today.”  In its petition, NMPF urges FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb to “Take prompt enforcement action against misbranded non-dairy foods that substitute for and resemble reference standardized dairy foods.”

The petition also points to long-standing rules that provide for using the words “substitute” or “alternative” in conjunction with a dairy term when such products are deemed nutritionally equivalent to the dairy products they reference.

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