NMPF “Naughty or Nice” List Features Imitators Who Follow, Don’t Follow Labeling Rules
January 10, 2019
In the holiday spirit, NMPF released its own version of a “Naughty or Nice” list the week before Christmas featuring plant-based drink manufacturers that do and do not employ dairy terms on their labels.
On the “naughty” side: beverage brands that use the word “milk” to sell nutritionally inferior non-dairy products. These include Almond Breeze, Oatly, Great Value (Walmart), Simply Balanced (Target), Muscle Milk, and So Delicious.
The “nice” side includes brands that lead with truthful food labeling by avoiding the term “milk” and offering an accurate description of what their products are – non-dairy beverages. Trader Joe’s, Quaker, Pacific Foods, and Kirkland (Costco) are on this list.
NMPF’s “Naughty or Nice” list comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to solicit public comment through Jan. 28 on the proper names for plant-based beverages. FDA defines dairy foods as “products made exclusively or principally from the lacteal secretion obtained from one or more healthy milk-producing animals.” NMPF is calling on FDA to enforce its own rules and end deceptive labeling of fake dairy products.
NMPF provided members with background materials and several data points at its Annual Meeting in October, and has since has expanded its toolkit of resources to include an instructional video, colorful graphics, a dedicated webpage and a social media marketing campaign – all intended to demonstrate why the FDA needs to enforce its existing labeling standards. NMPF is urging not just its members, but also consumers, family members and even pediatricians to explain to FDA how misbranded dairy imitators mislead consumers and harm public health.
Informational materials now available on the NMPF website include:
- A four-page document that includes instructions for submitting comments and key points
- An instructional video with screen grabs illustrating the step-by-step process of how to comment on the FDA docket
- A library of graphics to share in newsletters or on social media
Dairy farmers, and the entire dairy community, will also have opportunities to ask questions and offer their own input on what dairy should be doing to get the FDA to enforce its own rules in upcoming webinars, as well as a Twitter chat scheduled for 11 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, Jan. 17. Watch the @nmpf Twitter handle for more details.
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