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Dairy Defined Podcast: When Standards Go Horizontal, Be Careful

September 23, 2019

 

(Note: This is the first installment of NMPF’s Dairy Defined podcast, part of its “Dairy Defined” series exploring today’s dairy farms and industry using high-quality data and podcast-style interviews to explain current dairy issues and dispel myths.)

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday is holding a public meeting on “Horizontal Approaches to Food Standards of Identity Modernization” — horizontal being the idea that by making changes to food standards of identity that cut across categories, goals like “innovation” and “flexibility” may be encouraged.

Sounds great, right? Maybe – but Clay Detlefsen, senior vice president for regulatory and environmental affairs at NMPF, is providing comments at the meeting. He says the FDA should proceed with caution. Food products are unique, and an across-the-board approach could have unintended consequences that could harm consumers, he said.

“It’s a nice approach on its face, but I think when you start to get into details, concerns start to surface,” he said. “Consumers definitely could be misled.”

To listen to the full podcast, click here. You can also find the Dairy Defined podcast on Spotify and SoundCloud.

NOTE: Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file. Please attribute information to NMPF.

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. NMPF’s member cooperatives produce more than two-thirds of U.S. milk, making NMPF dairy’s voice on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.