Author: Alan Bjerga
FDA Guidance On Plant-Based Beverages’ Use of Dairy Terms is a First Step, NMPF Says While Calling for Complete Transparency in Labeling
In response to today’s FDA guidance on plant-based beverages, which guides manufacturers of plant-based beverages to disclose their nutrient inferiority and acknowledges the public health concern of nutritional confusion over such beverages, the National Milk Producers Federation, which has led the fight for labeling transparency, released the following statement:
From Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation:
“Today’s FDA announcement is a step toward labeling integrity for consumers of dairy products, even as it falls short of ending the decades-old problem of misleading plant-based labeling using dairy terminology. By acknowledging both the utter lack of nutritional standards prevalent in plant-based beverages and the confusion over nutritional value that’s prevailed in the marketplace because of the unlawful use of dairy terms, FDA’s proposed guidance today will provide greater transparency that’s sorely needed for consumers to make informed choices.
“Still, the decision to permit such beverages to continue inappropriately using dairy terminology violates FDA’s own standards of identity, which clearly define dairy terms as animal-based products. We reject the agency’s circular logic that FDA’s past labeling enforcement inaction now justifies labeling such beverages “milk” by designating a common and usual name. Past inaction is poor precedent to justify present and future inaction.
“Because FDA’s proposed guidance is meaningless without action, enforcement will be necessary to ensure that this limited progress is reflected on grocery shelves. For these reasons, we will continue our work in Congress to pass the DAIRY PRIDE Act, which would direct FDA to enforce its own rules and clarify that dairy terms are for true dairy products, not plant-based imposters.
“FDA’s last three Senate-confirmed commissioners — from both parties — have each acknowledged the problem of consumer confusion over nutritional content created by beverage labels that use dairy terms to imply qualities they simply don’t have. Medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, concur with this concern. Today’s proposed guidance at least recognizes this reality: That nutritionally inconsistent concoctions of water, factory-processed powders and other additives simply don’t contain the same nutrition that milk provides.
“As the agency entrusted with protecting consumers from mislabeled products, FDA’s action here takes a step in that direction. And after more than four decades of efforts that have often fallen on deaf ears, we appreciate that today’s agency leadership is beginning to treat plant-based beverage labeling more like the critical issue of nutrition and agency integrity that it is.
“We also would like to thank consumers, who sales data show drank fewer fake dairy beverages in 2022 than in 2021, part of a broader awakening to the bogus marketing of fake milk manufacturers that have been accepted uncritically for far too long. Despite the misinformation spun in advertisements and media, consumers are seeing through the marketing and recognizing these beverages for the fakes that they are. But consumers shouldn’t have to make choices in a marketplace that’s less than fully transparent, and until the federal government fully lives up to its mission, NMPF will continue to lead the battle for labeling transparency.”
For more NMPF discussion of the misleading use of dairy terms on plant-based beverages, see:
https://www.nmpf.org/the-plant-based-lie-that-needs-to-die/
https://www.nmpf.org/say-it-loud-say-it-clear-the-plant-based-beverage-bust-is-here/
https://www.nmpf.org/dairy-wins-on-facts-in-looming-lab-based-labeling-battle/
https://www.nmpf.org/plant-based-higher-cost-lower-quality-be-sure-to-tell-your-barista/
https://www.nmpf.org/fdas-proven-it-can-do-its-job-on-fake-milk-it-can-do-it-again/
https://www.nmpf.org/dairy-defined-the-over-hyped-shift-to-plant-based-beverages/
NMPF’s Morris Talks Trade, Canada on Podcast
NMPF and USDEC Senior Vice President for Trade Shawna Morris discusses the need to hold accountable for its trade commitments on the Agriculture of America podcast. Canada’s improper allocations under its Tariff-Rate Quota system is impeding the market access promised U.S. dairy farmers under the USMCA trade agreement, making a legal remedy necessary. The U.S. needs to strongly defend its farmers, Morris said; while farmers are hoping for a fair solution with Canadian compliance, retaliatory tariffs against Canadian products may be necessary, she said.
NMPF’s Bjerga On Equity in Federal Nutrition Programs
NMPF Senior Vice President for Communications Alan Bjerga discusses dairy’s need to promote its nutritional value for all consumers as concern for equity among all populations, including those that are lactose-intolerant, becomes a focus of federal nutrition policy. Bjerga also reveals his pick for the Super Bowl in an interview with WEKZ radio, Janesville, WI.
NMPF’s Morris on Holding Canada Accountable
NMPF and USDEC Senior Vice President for Trade Shawna Morris discusses the latest round of conflict between the United States and Canada over over U.S. dairy access to that market. Morris praised the U.S. government’s willingness to take on Canada again after already winning on dispute before a USMCA dispute resolution panel. Morris speaks in an interview on RFD-TV.
Taking a stand for true dairy products
By Clay Detlefsen, Senior Vice President for Environmental and Regulatory Affairs, NMPF.
It’s a tale that’s lasted decades too long. Plant-based companies continue to use dairy terms on their products, violating labeling laws as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to look the other way. But now a new kid has entered the conversation: synthetic “dairy” products that claim to be “animal-free,” yet worthy of a dairy name.
Synthetic dairy proteins are made in the lab by taking a section of a DNA sequence, programming or genetically modifying yeast and microflora with a specific DNA sequence and then using a precision fermentation to replicate it. The end product is a single whey protein, that’s then used to make products that companies are touting as dairy. That’s similar to the playbook the plant-based industry has run for years – and as research shows, it creates a false equivalence among consumers.
However, these companies aren’t making actual dairy, like milk, cheese and ice cream. Dairy foods are extremely complex. They offer essential nutrients, numerous high-quality proteins, micronutrients, and hundreds of fatty acids, all of which interact with each other to deliver one of the most nutritious foods in the marketplace. Creating a single synthetic dairy protein and mixing it with other ingredients to make a synthetic food product – the method currently being developed for commercial products – doesn’t creating anything approaching the complexity of actual dairy.
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) has been calling on FDA to enforce its own standards of identity for dairy for decades. This has included numerous meetings, comments, filing a Citizen Petition, and sending letters to the FDA Ombudsman. Last March, FDA sent Draft Guidance for Industry on the Labeling of Plant-based Milk Alternatives and Voluntary Nutrient Statements to the Office of Management and Budget. That document has yet to be released. In the meantime, we continue the fight for labeling integrity, for dairy farmers and for consumers.
NMPF’s largest concern with the misuse of dairy terms are the nutritional issues that have arisen in recent years from the use of plant-based beverages as alternative nutrition sources, especially in children. Because of plant-based products not following the labeling laws and using dairy terms on their products, consumers are assuming that they offer the same nutrient package as dairy products, which is inaccurate. In the most critical of cases, it has led to nutritional deficiency diseases like Kwashiorkor and rickets.
NMPF for decades has been baffled by why FDA has not enforced its rules, especially given that it results in human health harm. Recently, FDA issued a new standard of identity for yogurt: In that rulemaking, FDA specifically calls out the importance of standards. But it seems FDA only cares about such standards when it comes to a real dairy product; with plant-based (and soon, we worry, lab-based) imitators, a Wild West mentality has prevailed. The inconsistency is frustrating. What they have been doing by allowing plant-based food companies to break all the labeling rules is simply wrong, and we cannot allow it to spread to the new up and coming lab-created, synthetic foods.
To better understand FDA’s haphazard approach to standards when applied to dairy, NMPF has sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all information related to plant-based labeling, the use of the term animal-free, the negative human health consequences due to mislabeling of plant-based products and much more. It’s critical that we do this, as with a new generation of imitators on the horizon, we need to stand up for dairy now before consumer confusion proliferates further.
This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on Feb. 6, 2023.
NMPF’s Bjerga on New Pandemic Aid
NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga said $100 million on new assistance to dairy farmers under the Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program will better aid midsize and larger dairies that received inadequate support in an earlier round of aid. Bjerga also discusses mental health stresses among farmers, and a recent Dairy Defined Podcast that discusses ways they can get help. Bjerga was interviewed on RFD-TV.
Congress’s Bumpy Start Could Smooth Farm Bill
By Paul Bleiberg, Senior Vice President, Government Relations, NMPF.
The beginning of each new Congress is marked by a period of temporary excitement, borne of optimism that legislators will put aside political differences to finally enact solutions to problems affecting Americans from all walks of life.
The opening of the 118th Congress earlier this month presented a different picture. While the usual political disputes between the two parties remain, the first days of this congress featured not a contrast between Republicans and Democrats, but instead disagreements among Republicans about who to elect as Speaker of the House and, more fundamentally, how to govern the institution for the next two years.
Ultimately, after four days of intense negotiation that occurred both in private meetings and in public on the House floor, Republicans voted to elect California Representative Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House for the 118th Congress. Six Republican members who had voted against McCarthy on previous ballots chose to vote ‘present’ on the final ballot, clearing a path for McCarthy to claim the Speaker’s gavel.
Personalities certainly played a role in this conflict and its resolution, but so did significant discussions about the ability of individual members to influence the legislation that advances in the House. Part of the agreement that got McCarthy elected speaker allows members to offer many amendments to bills that reach the floor, a departure from recent practice. Amendment debate and votes can sometimes smooth over bumps in the road to a bill’s passage, but they also can create new obstacles.
This may seem like ‘inside baseball,’ but it is of great importance to one piece of legislation expected to advance this year: the 2023 Farm Bill. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA) kicked off that process with a recent listening session at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg. Many hearings are expected this spring in both the House and Senate agriculture committees.
Soon after that, the work of drafting the bill will begin. Members on and off the committees will seek to have their say. Yes, this means Congress may take votes on a wide range of amendments to the farm bill, good and bad. Hopefully, the amendment process will help to expand the bipartisan, bicameral consensus that will be needed to enact a farm bill, and not detract from it. But dairy will need to do its part to make sure the process doesn’t work to the detriment of its interests. That means we’ll be striving to maintain the Dairy Margin Coverage program and separate risk management tools, with tweaks as needed, and to ensure dairy’s needs are met in other key titles like conservation, trade, and nutrition.
Dairy will be engaging closely to help guide Congress to that outcome. The beginning of the new Congress wasn’t the most auspicious in terms of unity. Even so, policy progress is always possible, and on the farm bill and other issues, we will work with both sides of the aisle – and even both sides of one aisle should there be conflicts – to get things done.
This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on Jan. 23, 2023.
Rising Domestic Use Supports Prices
Trade Policy Victories for U.S. Dairy
By Shawna Morris, Senior Vice President for Trade, NMPF and U.S. Dairy Export Council.
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) are proud to be the voice of defending the American dairy industry and promoting dairy exports in Washington D.C. and around the world. Looking back at this past year of trade policy, American dairy producers and the entire industry have much to be proud of.
U.S. dairy exports are on track for another record year in both value and volume — despite a lack of new market access, protectionist actions in key markets, and ongoing supply chain challenges.
Working with the government to help U.S. dairy thrive
The record export numbers are happening despite high costs and unreliable shipping networks that are still causing headaches for the industry more than two years after the global COVID-19 outbreak first snarled supply chains.
NMPF and USDEC have led the way in working with the U.S. government to address the concerns. In June, President Biden signed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act into law. Championed by NMPF and USDEC, the legislation limits ocean carriers’ ability to deny exports and charge unreasonable fees, clearing a significant hurdle for dairy exporters.
Elsewhere, the EU’s abuse of geographical indication rules continues to threaten U.S. producers’ access to foreign markets for common-name cheeses like “Parmesan” and “Feta.” In collaboration with the Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN), NMPF and USDEC have pushed the U.S. government to proactively defend the rights of U.S. cheesemakers and fought the court battles necessary to advance this effort.
That work resulted in a key win last January, when a U.S. District Court ruled in our favor that “Gruyere” cheese can be produced anywhere – not just in France or Switzerland. This landmark victory again proved that common names are widely understood to refer to types of food, regardless of where they are produced.
Holding Canada responsible
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) provided a much-needed update to trade rules. NMPF and USDEC supported it as a deal that would increase exports and boost farm gate milk prices.
Unfortunately, Canada hasn’t held up its end of the bargain. By reserving most of its dairy tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for Canadian processors and directly impairing American exporters’ ability to access the Canadian market, it’s clearly a break of the USMCA’s TRQ provisions that allow market access.
NMPF and USDEC successfully advocated for last year’s initiation of the first-ever USMCA dispute settlement process. The United States won the initial case in January, but upon Canadian refusal to comply with the ruling, NMPF and USDEC prompted the U.S. government to pursue a second dispute panel, resulting in the U.S. seeking formal consultations with Canada in May. The organizations have urged a strong response on behalf of wronged U.S. dairy industry members to ensure that America’s dairy sector receives the full export benefits promised under the agreement.
Strengthening relationships in Latin America
NMPF and USDEC finalized partnerships with the Chilean National Federation of Producers (Fedeleche) and Rural Society of Argentina this year that will advance shared policy priorities internationally. Far more than just agreements on paper, these relationships set a foundation to confront emerging threats, both in key export markets and in international standard-setting bodies to ward off anti-trade and anti-dairy policies.
These examples are just a slice of the trade policy issues that touched the U.S. dairy industry in 2022, but each highlights the great potential of the American dairy industry to grow worldwide and shows the need for the U.S. government to work with us to get there. Looking to 2023 and beyond, NMPF and USDEC are looking forward to ensuring that exports keep growing in volume and in value, supporting the bottom line of dairy farmers, manufacturers, and workers throughout the country.
This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on Dec. 26, 2022.
NMPF’s Bjerga on Dairy’s Recent Policy Wins
As the year comes to a close, the National Milk Producers Federation is applauding two recent measures that support the dairy industry. NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga spoke with RFD-TV’s own Janet Adkison about how the Growing Climate Solutions Act and Sustains Act benefit dairy farmers, and what USTR’s announcement of a new request for dispute settlement consultations with Canada means for U.S. dairy.
https://www.rfdtv.com/two-recent-measures-from-congress-and-ustr-are-giving-a-boost-to-dairy-farmers
Scholarships give back to dairy, NMPF’s Ayache says
The National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program supports dairy research — and the industry as a whole — by assisting students who do cutting-edge scholarship, and then stay within the sector, said Nicole Ayache, National Milk Producers Federation Vice President, Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability, in an interview with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. “We’re really trying to support those individuals and their career. We want them to stay within dairy and contribute to our community,” she said. More information on the scholarships and how to donate to them is here.
