Author: Theresa Sweeney

Proper Preparation Perpetuates Progress on Plant-Based Labeling

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The late-February release of proposed FDA guidance on the labeling of plant-based beverages is far from what dairy producers want or consumers deserve.

The agency’s justification of terms including “almond milk,” “soy milk” and other terms as commonly accepted relies on circular reasoning, using its previous non-enforcement of its standards of identity to justify further inattention. And as guidance, the portion that does improve the consumer marketplace – front-of-packaging disclosures by plant-based beverages of their inferiority to dairy – does not have the same strength as regulation. FDA can “guide” a manufacturer, but company disclosures are voluntary. The good news is that most companies follow such voluntary guidance for fear of bad publicity or legal challenges.

As such, FDA’s proposal contains a major win for dairy: the acknowledgment that consumer confusion over nutritional content is a public health issue that requires agency intervention. For nearly a decade, that’s been NMPF’s core argument against the mislabeling of plant-based beverages. And by accepting it, FDA has laid the groundwork for our work toward the logical conclusion of the need to end nutritional confusion: Reserving the use of dairy terms for dairy products only, in keeping with FDA’s own standards of identity. We’re on the right path, and FDA’s guidance can directly contribute to our own eventual success.

A bit of background: Three decades into what’s been a more than four-decade struggle to get FDA to take this issue seriously, in the early 2010s, the issue was in an unsatisfying stasis. NMPF would complain, and nothing would happen. Meanwhile, plant-based imposters were proliferating in the marketplace, to the detriment of public health. Beginning in 2015, we at NMPF zeroed in on the real issue of nutritional confusion – dismissing the plant-based red herring that “consumers know it’s not dairy, they’re not confused” to more accurately describe what “confusion” really meant: the mistaken belief that plant-based beverages provided the same level of nutritional benefits as real dairy.

We hammered that point home at every opportunity, to the extent that, when then-FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb was asked about nutritional confusion in a 2018 hearing, he had been informed enough about the issue to make his famous “confession”: “An almond doesn’t lactate, I will confess.”

With that acknowledgment we pushed even harder. Through quality submissions to an FDA comment period on the issue, through constant attention to the issue through the media, through tough questions from dairy’s allies in congressional hearings, we helped FDA – and importantly, consumers, who in 2022 drank a lower volume of plant-based beverages than the year before – understand the importance of the issue. We offered our own road map on labeling through a 2019 Citizen’s Petition. And with allies including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the School Nutrition Association, we showed it wasn’t just dairy that cared about consumer confusion – education and health professionals did as well.

And that brought us to last week. While FDA clearly wanted to cover over its decades-long failure to enforce existing standards by giving the plant-based folks the ability to use “milk,” the nutrition disclosure recommendations and the acceptance of nutritional confusion as a public health issue are powerful tools with which we can move forward in pursuit of full transparency. First of all, FDA’s concern for the issue adds impetus for what’s now the most promising immediate solution to the problem – congressional passage of the DAIRY PRIDE Act, which would require FDA to enforce milk’s standard of identity in the name of solving the very problem it’s identified.

Second, though FDA guidance is non-binding, as I’ve noted, it’s something industry takes seriously. We will be watching corporate practice on labels – and we won’t accept labeling that ignores FDA’s guidance or clearly attempts to do as little possible to get by. The plant-based industry is built on misinformation, and we expect old habits to die hard. But we’re in a new landscape, and we’ll make sure that consumers gain maximum benefit from the changed regulatory environment by reminding them of the nutritional inferiority of various fake milks.

This journey is far from complete. FDA has opened a comment period on the guidance that’s open until April 24. We have a call to action here that allows you to tell the agency not to backslide on its guidance, and in fact to go further to protect consumers. Momentum is on our side, and it’s gratifying to see an approach we consciously understood nearly a decade ago yield benefits that will only increase.

But it’s not time to let up on the gas, as our work is far from complete. We’ll take what FDA has offered. And we’ll make it even better in the future.

Jim Mulhern

President & CEO, NMPF

 

NMPF Praises Re-Introduction of DAIRY PRIDE Act, Calls on Congress to Finish FDA’s Job

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF commended a bipartisan group of senators, led by Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-WI; Jim Risch, R-ID; Peter Welch, D-VT, and Susan Collins, R-ME, for re-introducing the DAIRY PRIDE Act, which would end the problem of consumer confusion of the nutritional content of plant-based beverages the Food and Drug Administration took inadequate steps to remedy last week.

“DAIRY PRIDE is needed more than ever, now that FDA has offered guidance on the labeling of plant-based beverages that, while taking steps in the right direction, ultimately doesn’t remedy the problem it seeks to solve, which is the proven confusion among consumers created when plant-based beverages steal dairy terms to make their products appear healthier than they really are,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation.

“FDA has acknowledged the problem of nutritional confusion without providing  a complete solution,” Mulhern said. “DAIRY PRIDE solves the problem by requiring FDA to enforce what its own standards of identity state: that ‘milk’ is a term reserved for animal products and that plant-based drinks or beverages shouldn’t be allowed to use dairy terms in their labeling.”

The Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, Milk, and Cheese To Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday Act” aka DAIRY PRIDE, requires FDA to enforce its standards of identity and would supersede the inadequate solution it offered last week, in which plant-based beverages could call themselves “milk” as long as they clearly state their nutritional differences with real dairy. While the long-awaited guidance acknowledges the  need to address consumer confusion, it does not resolve the cause of the problem, which is imitators using dairy terms. The logical solution is to limit dairy terms to dairy products, which DAIRY PRIDE would achieve.

FDA is accepting comments on its draft guidance until April 24. Meanwhile, DAIRY PRIDE introduction in the House of Representatives is expected within weeks.

“Consumers and dairy producers, along with their allies in the nutrition and health communities, thank Sens. Baldwin, Risch, Welch and Collins for their leadership in this important public-health issue,” Mulhern said. “We look forward to working with our Senate and House champions to enact the DAIRY PRIDE Act during the 118th Congress.”

Record Exports Drive U.S. Dairy Demand

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

By William Loux, Vice President, Global Economic Affairs, NMPF and U.S. Dairy Export Council.

U.S. dairy exports excelled again in 2022, with record shipments further cementing its role as the key demand driver for U.S. milk.

For the third consecutive year, the U.S. dairy industry set a record for the volume of dairy products exported on a milk solids equivalent basis, with the current record now surpassing 2.4 million metric tons — the equivalent of over 40 billion pounds of raw milk, or 18% of the U.S. milk supply.

Perhaps even more impressive, for the fifth time in the last six years, U.S. exports grew by more than domestic consumption. Of that six-year window, 2019 was the only time in that span when exports grew by less than domestic sales. That’s the year the U.S. faced prohibitive retaliatory tariffs on dairy products destined for China. In addition, African Swine Fever was cratering China’s demand for whey products. At the same time, U.S. skim milk powder exporters were facing headwinds from EU intervention storage stocks that began hitting the market at below-market prices in 2019. All this noted, with 2019 being a particularly unique exception, the international market has been the driver of U.S. dairy demand growth for the past six years.

Success can’t be taken for granted

European milk production came on strong at the tail end of 2022 as favorable weather and margins boosted output. Conversely, demand within the European Union bloc has reportedly weakened as consumers feel the squeeze on their wallets, which is causing European wholesale prices to dip. With more supply, weaker internal demand, and low prices, we can expect significantly more competition from Europe in the international market than we did in 2022 when their exports dropped 10% during the first 11 months of the year.

Additionally, the international demand picture remains uncertain. Despite the clear success of U.S. dairy, the world’s collective dairy trade actually dropped 4% in 2022 — primarily on account of China. The world’s largest dairy product-importing nation contracted dairy imports by 21% as the country drew down inventories built in 2021, witnessed a surge in domestic milk supplies, and instituted movement restrictions, all of which damaged dairy consumption and imports.

China’s return to the market in 2023 remains uncertain. The lockdowns have been lifted, but milk production in the country is still growing, and inventories of milk powder reportedly remain heavy. Optimistically, consumption in the country will rebound and stockpiles will be reduced, setting the stage for China’s return as a global buyer in the middle part of the year. But until they do, New Zealand, which exported over 40% of its production to China at its peak, will have plenty of products available for customers elsewhere, meaning increased competition with the United States.

Outside of China, the demand picture will likely be mixed depending on local conditions, but broadly, slower economic growth and inflation are expected to challenge lower-income consumers and push buyers to look for bargains.

Overall, I am forecasting international demand in 2023 to return to growth, but not at a spectacular rate, and with more suppliers competing for business.

Given the expected headwinds this year, industry investment in international markets will be critical to success. To set another record in 2023, the U.S. must continue the work being done to build demand for U.S. dairy products overseas and expand market access in key markets, all while maintaining reliability with international customers by being engaged and responsive.

This column originally appeared in Hoard’s Dairyman Intel on Feb. 21, 2023.

Dairy Brings Resilience for Ukraine Farmer

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

One year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, dairy cows are critical to keeping Kees Huizenga’s crop and livestock operation running as the war continues to bring hardship and suffering to the country and its agriculture.

When the war began, “I went to the people, to the old employees to talk to them and tell them not to panic and that we will all stay, and that we have to keep on running the farm and keep on feeding and milking the cows because they don’t care if it’s rockets or not. They have to be milked three times a day. And that’s what we did. And everybody stayed,” said Huizenga, who is now living in his home country of the Netherlands while managing the 2,000-cow dairy and crop farm he began more than 20 years ago near Cherkasy, Ukraine, about 120 miles southeast of its capital city of Kiev.

“The creamery, the processing factory, they never skipped one day in picking up the milk. They never skipped a day in paying. We gave them some milk for free and they processed it for free and they gave these products to refugees and to the army. And a lot of people, a lot of farmers did similar things.”

Looking at the next year, the biggest challenge for Ukrainian farmers is “the uncertainty,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow, if that rocket might hit your farm. We are still far away from the front line, but I know farmers who’ve been hit and who’ve been tortured and killed as well. So, I don’t know what the biggest uncertainties are. If there will be enough fertilizer available to grow a good crop. Seeds, are they more or less available. Prices because of these export complexities.”

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NMPF Statement on Record Dairy Exports

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

From NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern:

“For the third consecutive year, U.S. dairy farmers have proven how their dedication to innovation and sustainability leadership increasingly have made them the world’s provider of choice for nutritious dairy products. In both value and in volume, U.S. sales are at all-time highs, and in 2022, a record percentage of U.S. milk production was exported overseas. This happened despite the headwinds our exporters battled last year, which included supply chain challenges, a lack of new trade agreements to establish more level playing fields abroad, and other barriers to trade that threatened to upend progress.

“Let this be a signal to the world: U.S. dairy farmers are, and will be, a growing force for global nutrition, sustainability and health, as shown by the increasing preference of consumers worldwide for the products they create. We’re excited to see today’s year-end export totals reflect a vision we’ve been pursuing for decades, and we look forward to seeing further progress in the years to come.”

The Plant-based Lie That Needs to Die

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

There it was, #5 on a New York Times list of “10 Nutrition Myths Experts Wish Would Die.”

“Plant Milk is healthier than dairy milk.”

“It’s just not true,” said Kathleen Merrigan, professor of sustainable food systems at Arizona State University and a deputy secretary of agriculture under President Barack Obama, in the article. But indeed, the myth persists, despite how plant-based beverages have much-lower protein, numerous additives of dubious value, and a lack of uniform quality that should give anyone pause.

It’s also not shocking the misinformation continues. Money talks, and the plant-based sector is well-funded, with plenty of media allies and a ready-made base of support in a vegan community that insists a diet that’s impossibly difficult to follow and prone to malnourishment should be adopted by everyone. It also comes down to the names of the products themselves. If (whatever substance of the moment) is put in front of the word “milk,” then a false impression of nutritional equivalence, if not superiority, is easy to create. If that weren’t the intention, the plant-based beverage peddlers wouldn’t be doing it.

The good news is, nutrition experts are seeing through it – hence endorsement of integrity in dairy labeling from the American Academy of Pediatrics and others.  And consumers are seeing through it, which is why we’re seeing data like this, in which after years of gains, the plant-based tide is starting to recede.

But we still have the problem of the federal government — specifically the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — which often lags behind science and citizens.

Until the FDA enforces its own standards of identity for milk by getting dairy terms right – reserving them for the real thing to distinguish them from the nutritionally deficient concoctions that hide behind milk’s health halo – the lie of “healthy” plant-based “milk” is likely to persist. And as we’ve seen, that lie is proving difficult to eradicate.

For the sake of well-informed consumer choice, and better health and nutrition, it’s important that the government do its job to dispel the lie of plant-based beverages masquerading as “milk.” On that list, labeling integrity is #1.

NMPF, IDFA Pleased New USDA School Meal Proposal Keeps Low-Fat Flavored Milk in Schools, Call for Expanded Dairy Options

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) today expressed optimism for USDA’s proposed updates to school meal nutrition standards, specifically USDA’s plans to maintain low-fat flavored milk for students. NMPF and IDFA continued to call on USDA officials to expand milk and dairy options in schools to ensure children have access to the nutrients they need each day, consistent with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

“Children having access to the healthful foods they need to grow and focus in school is a key priority for dairy farmers,” said Jim Mulhern, NMPF President and CEO. “Milk is the top source of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin D in kids ages 2-18, and 1% flavored milk is a nutrient-dense, low-fat option students will actually choose to drink. We are pleased USDA is maintaining low-fat flavored milk in schools, providing children with an additional, and favored, choice to access the 13 essential nutrients milk provides, including three of the four nutrients of public health concern. But we question why USDA would propose school meal options that could limit a child’s access to these nutrients and we urge instead that they expand access to dairy options. Providing low-fat flavored milk will increase students’ intake of nutrients vital for their growth and development.”

“The most recent Dietary Guidelines report is clear: children are not receiving enough essential nutrients for growth, development, healthy immune function, and overall wellness,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO. “Healthy milk and dairy options in school meals offer the most important opportunity of the day for children to get the critical nutrients they need. For years, parents and nutrition professionals have agreed that milk and dairy products must remain key building blocks in school meals. While we are pleased that this proposed rule continues to make dairy central to child nutrition, we are concerned with USDA’s ongoing efforts to propose limitations to milk and dairy in school meals, which run counter to the Dietary Guidelines and the mandate of America’s parents.”

NMPF and IDFA are carefully reviewing other provisions set forth in the proposed rule, including the weekly added sugars and sodium limits, to assess their impact on students’ ability to benefit from nutrient-dense dairy food. NMPF and IDFA will submit formal comments as requested by USDA.

NMPF and IDFA also expressed gratitude to Representatives Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and Mark Pocan (D-WI) who have worked for years to restore and maintain nutritious school milk options.

“We are grateful to Chairman Thompson and Reps. Courtney, Stefanik and Pocan for their leadership and advocacy for dairy as a way to ensure that schoolchildren have access to the healthy, nutrient-dense milk options they will consume,” Mulhern said.

“We are grateful to Chairman Thompson and Representatives Courtney, Stefanik, and Pocan for their consistent legislative efforts to get milk’s 13 essential nutrients to as many school children as possible,” said Dykes. “Offering low-fat flavored milk and other milk options increases school meal participation, reduces food waste, and ensures children and adolescents are learning and growing.”

Applications Now Accepted for NMPF’s Scholarship Program

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF is now accepting applications for its National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program for academic year 2023-2024.

Each year, NMPF awards scholarships to outstanding graduate students (enrolled in Master’s or Ph.D. programs) who are actively pursuing dairy-related fields of research that are of immediate interest to NMPF member cooperatives and the US dairy industry at large.

Graduate students pursuing research of direct benefit to milk marketing cooperatives and dairy producers are encouraged to submit an application (applicants do not need to be members of NMPF to qualify). Scholarship recipients will be invited to present their research via webinar during the summer of 2023. Top applicants are eligible to be awarded the Hintz Memorial Scholarship, which was created in 2005 in honor of the late Cass-Clay Creamery Board Chairman Murray Hintz who was instrumental in establishing NMPF’s scholarship program.

Recommended fields of study include but are not limited to Agriculture Communications and Journalism, Animal Health, Animal and/or Human Nutrition, Bovine Genetics, Dairy Products Processing, Dairy Science, Economics, Environmental Science, Food Science, Food Safety, Herd Management, and Marketing and Price Analysis.

Applications must be received no later than Friday, April 14, 2023.  For an application or more information, please visit the NMPF website or email scholarship@nmpf.org.

The scholarship program is funded through the National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Fund. If you would like to support the scholarship fund, please consider a donation here.

Prairie Farms’ Lorilee Schultz Elected to Lead YC Program in 2023

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Illinois dairy farmer Lorilee Schultz was elected chairperson of the National Young Cooperators (YC) Program Jan. 17 at the program’s biannual Advisory Council and Coordinators meeting. Schultz, a member-owner of Prairie Farms, Inc., manages Mil-R-Mor Farm, a 60-cow registered Holstein dairy in northern Illinois. Schultz will lead the YC Program and represent its interests to the NMPF Board of Directors in this role throughout 2023.

“We provide consumers with safe, high-quality, affordable and nutritionally dense dairy foods, while also contributing significantly to our local economies and being responsible stewards of our resources,” Schultz said. “There are challenges, but I am confident that dairy farmers—and young dairy farmers in particular—are willing and ready to do what we do best: go to work and tackle them head-on. I’ve been in the trenches on the farm 15 years; now I want to look beyond my own farm and do what I can to help strengthen our industry.”

Schultz has served in leadership roles with several industry and community organizations including the National Holstein Foundation and Midwest Dairy Association, but she credits her four brothers for giving her extensive experience “listening to all sides and bringing out the best ideas.” She enjoys dairy cattle judging and helping her nieces and nephews and the farm employees’ children show at their local dairy shows.

Justin and Hannah Watt, owners of Cedar Knoll Dairy LLC in Keymar, Maryland and members of Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, were elected to serve as vice chairpersons.

Established by NMPF in 1950, the National YC Program provides training and leadership development opportunities to dairy farmers under 45. The program aims to enhance producers’ leadership skills to make them more effective managers and more influential leaders through year-round in-person and virtual programming. Click here and subscribe and receive updates from the YC Program.