Study Reveals Reasons Why Some Americans Lack Adequate Dairy Nutrition, Offers Roadmap to Better Diet Quality

Many Americans recognize dairy as a cornerstone of a healthy diet but continue to fall short of recommended daily intake as endorsed by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. An in-depth consumer survey released today by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) and supported by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), explores barriers to dairy nutrition among Americans and how to remove them.

The report provides a roadmap for how industry, government, and health and nutrition groups can improve awareness of and access to lactose-free milk and dairy products; expand understanding about dairy’s nutritional value; and work with the dairy industry to extend shelf life and improve the value of dairy purchases to consumers.

The report draws on the beliefs, behaviors, and perceptions of Black, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Non-Hispanic White consumers toward dairy.


Key Data Points:

  • Missed Opportunities for Lactose-Free: Nearly two in three Americans say they’ve never consumed lactose-free milk (64%), lactose-free flavored milk (76%), or other lactose-free dairy products other than milk (68%). The rate of non-consumption is more than half among Latino, Black, and Asian/Pacific Islander communities, indicating low awareness among groups that report higher rates of lactose sensitivity.
  • Affordability a Leading Factor for SNAP and Non-SNAP Households Alike: Approximately 30% of all races and ethnicities at all income levels cite affordability as a reason for consuming milk.
  • Expiration Dates and “Passive Avoidance” Top Barriers: Concern about spoilage before it’s used (19%), is a leading reason consumers avoid milk. Meanwhile, 37% of respondents cited no specific reason for limiting dairy consumption, suggesting “passive avoidance” that could be overcome with greater media, healthcare, and community outreach. Self-reported lactose sensitivities also contribute to higher levels of avoidance.
  • Taste and Health Top Purchase Drivers, Cheese Reigns Supreme: Cheese is the most frequently consumed dairy product (90% weekly), followed by butter (85%), milk (75%), and yogurt (60%). Consumers overwhelmingly rank taste as the main factor for purchasing cheese, yogurt, and milk, followed by dairy being a good source of protein. Health benefits cited include bone health as the most recognized (90%), and other advantages including immune system support (65%) and heart health (54%).

Spotlighting a Disconnect Between Perception and Consumption

The “Exploring Fluid Milk & Dairy Food Consumption Patterns to Improve Diet Quality & Nutrition Equity” study reveals a disconnect between consumer perception and actual dairy intake. While a strong majority (78%) of Americans believe dairy is essential, many are not reaping its benefits.

“Good nutrition is the foundation of health and wellness for adults and children across all demographics, and dairy is a crucial part of a healthy diet beginning at a very young age,” said Michelle Matto, MPH, RDN, associate vice president of regulatory affairs and nutrition, IDFA. “This survey shows how consumers value dairy for nutrition and taste but may lack adequate information about or access to the types of dairy that are right for them and their families. It demonstrates that dairy will need to expand its partnerships with communities of color, with health and nutrition experts, and with policymakers to remove barriers preventing Americans from getting adequate dairy nutrition, including high quality protein, calcium, vitamin D, potassium, and health benefits including better bone health and lower risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”


Moving Forward

The survey shows the clear need for greater educational efforts, said Miquela Hanselman, director of regulatory affairs for NMPF.

“The IFIC research puts data behind both the importance of dairy nutrition and the need for better education about what dairy options are available and what benefits they provide,” Hanselman said. “With discussion of the next Dietary Guidelines under way, it’s important that this information be communicated clearly and forcefully to all who may benefit, from consumers who need dairy nutrition to policymakers who determine federal programs.”

The IFIC research underscores the importance of targeted outreach programs to improve overall diet quality and achieve greater nutrition equity.

“While dairy is a chronically under consumed food group among many Americans, BIPOC and SNAP-eligible households may benefit most from hearing more about the health benefits associated with consistent dairy consumption. Education and outreach efforts tailored to increase awareness and availability of lactose-free dairy foods and beverages, in addition to emphasizing dairy’s benefits beyond bone health for everyone, present new opportunities,” said IFIC President & CEO Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN. “Increased dairy consumption among all populations can positively contribute to improved diet quality and nutrition equity — availability, accessible, and affordability — goals that support enhanced health for all Americans.”

NMPF ‘Disturbed’ at USDA Final WIC Rule That Decreases Dairy Access

USDA released on April 9 its final rule updating the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), maintaining cuts to dairy in WIC food packages first announced in its preliminary rule.

“NMPF is disturbed by the decision to reduce access to the essential nutrients dairy adds to the diet,” said Gregg Doud, NMPF president and CEO in a statement after the announcement.

“Nutrition science demonstrates that dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheese are especially important for women, infants, and children; meanwhile, nearly 90% of Americans don’t meet the number of dairy servings recommended by the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” Doud said. “This rule works against the WIC Program’s goal of ensuring all Americans have consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable foods.”

WIC is a vital program ensuring that pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and children have access to key nutrients that may be lacking in their diets. Decreasing the amount of dairy offered decreases the nutrients they are accessing through it.

NMPF supported provisions in the final rule that require states to offer lactose-free milk and expand the selection of product package sizes and opportunities to substitute yogurt and cheese for the milk allotment. However, the rule also authorizes plant-based milk alternatives that meet the nutrient specifications for WIC-eligible soy beverages and have less than 10 grams of added sugars per 8 ounces to be redeemed in the WIC program. This rule also allows plant-based “yogurt” and “cheese” to be redeemed in place of dairy.

This move raises many questions for NMPF, specifically why plant-based milk alternatives would have an added sugar allotment when this rule removes flavored milk as an option.

Following the rule’s release, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-KS, voiced concern with the department’s decision to reduce the WIC maximum monthly milk allowance at a hearing with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Apr. 16. NMPF is grateful for Moran’s advocacy for providing WIC program participants access they need to dairy’s unique nutrition profile.

12 Years to a Win: USDA Makes Low-Fat, Skim Flavored Milk a Rule in Schools

A dozen years of steady NMPF effort paid off for dairy farmers and the broader industry on April 24, when USDA solidified the ability of schools to offer 1% and fat-free flavored milk in school meals for children of all ages in its final school nutrition standards rule.

The policy win will encourage consumption of the essential nutrients provided by dairy, helping children who consume nutritious dairy products.

“This final rule helps ensure kids will be able to choose a nutritious milk they tend to prefer,” said Gregg Doud, CEO and President of NMPF. “Many children prefer low-fat flavored milk over fat-free, and flavored milk offers the same nutrients as regular milk with a minor amount of added sugar.”

NMPF praised its member cooperatives for their tireless work to decrease the level of added sugar in flavored school milk, which now generally falls below the added sugar maximum established in this final rule. “Not only does flavored milk offer the same nutrients as regular milk, its presence correlates with decreased waste in school cafeterias. I am proud of our industry’s successful commitment to providing a healthy product that kids want,” Doud said.

The final rule will include sodium limits on school meals that will not be more restrictive than the Target 2 limits from the 2012 school meals rule, a compromise NMPF supports. Added sugar maximums will also be placed on flavored yogurt (12 grams per 6 ounces) and flavored milk (10 grams per 8 ounces) beginning with the 2025-26 school year, followed by a weekly menu-wide limit of an average of less than 10 percent of calories per meal from added sugars beginning with the 2027-28 school year.

NMPF also commended the work of Reps. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-PA, and Joe Courtney, D-CT, who led and secured broad bipartisan backing for legislative efforts over several years that were instrumental to today’s outcome of restoring low-fat flavored milk as a long-term option for schools.

“We are grateful to Representatives Thompson and Courtney for spearheading the successful drive to restore low-fat flavored milk over these last 12 years,” Doud said. “We are thrilled that, working with these members, USDA has put this issue to rest.”

Doud also noted that despite noteworthy progress, the work to ensure adequate milk access in schools isn’t finished yet. NMPF supports the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which would restore whole and 2 percent varieties to school lunch menus. Led by Reps. Thompson and Kim Schrier, D-WA, the legislation overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives in December and awaits Senate approval.

Whole Milk Ready for Breakthrough Year

With consumer choice, scientific research and congressional legislation all going its way, 2024 promises to be a breakthrough year for whole milk, NMPF’s Head of Nutrition Policy Claudia Larson and Regulatory Affairs Director Miquela Hanselman said in a Dairy Defined Podcast released today.

The variety that shoppers prefer is poised to return to school lunch menus given the bipartisan approval of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act in the House of Representatives, and it will figure prominently in consideration for updated federal Dietary Guidelines that are due next year.

“This is important to our students, this is important to our schools, this is important to our parents,” said Larson, a senior director of government relations at NMPF. “Reach out to your senators, let them know that this is important to you and your children in your community and ask them to please co-sponsor the bill.”

NMPF has a call to action urging lawmakers to support the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act here. The full podcast is here. You can also find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Broadcast outlets may use the MP3 file below. Please attribute information to NMPF.


House Overwhelmingly Backs Whole Milk in Schools

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act on Dec. 13 with a commanding 330-99 margin, demonstrating compelling bipartisan support for expanding dairy in school meal nutrition programs.

The measure, led by Representatives GT Thompson, R-PA, and Kim Schrier, D-WA, expands the milk options schools can choose to include 2% and whole milk, in addition to the skim and 1% varieties currently allowed, increasing the number of tools schools can use to deliver vital nutrition to students by allowing more nutritious milk options schools can opt to serve.

“Expanding the milk schools can choose to serve to include 2% and whole is a common-sense solution that will help ensure kids have access to the same healthful milk options they drink at home,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern upon House approval.

The House vote came after extensive Hill work and grassroots advocacy, including an NMPF call to action to its mailing list of dairy advocates that can be joined here. The legislation gained near-unanimous support among House Republicans and a majority of Democrats, generating significant momentum for Senate consideration this year.

NMPF has been committed to reinstating in schools the milk options removed in 2012, including 1% flavored milk and all varieties of 2% and whole. After years of working with members of Congress, meeting with USDA, and filing regulatory comments, 1% flavored milk was returned to school lunch menus on more permanent footing in 2022. NMPF has simultaneously built bipartisan support for 2% and whole milk options. NMPF also has been urging the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to incorporate the robust body of scientific evidence showing the health benefits of dairy in all compositions, which should help expand dairy options in nutrition programs limited by dietary guidelines recommendations.

NMPF Submits Dietary Guidance Statement Comments Pushing for Clarity

NMPF strongly objected to FDA’s discussion of plant-based milk and yogurt alternatives in the agency’s draft guidance ,“Questions and Answers About Dietary Guidance Statements in Food Labeling: Draft Guidance for Industry” published by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in comments submitted Sept. 25.

Dietary guidance statements can be used on food labels to provide consumers with information about foods or food groups that can contribute to a nutritious dietary pattern to help consumers make healthier choices. NMPF’s comments supported the use of consensus statements from authoritative bodies as the basis for dietary guidance statements but requested clarification on food group equivalents. NMPF also questioned FDA’s approach to plant-based milk and yogurt alternatives, saying it will encourage false and misleading advertising — which FDA has already acknowledged as an issue in their draft guidance for the labeling of plant-based milk alternatives.

“Despite the agency’s instructions to use consensus statements from authoritative bodies in developing guidance statements, FDA appears to violate its own principle by describing a means by which plant-based alternatives other than fortified soy could make dietary guidance statements based on consensus statements about the dairy group,” NMPF wrote in its comments.

NMPF’s comments on the proposed guidance for dietary statements is one small part of the organization’s broader campaign against the mainstreaming of plant-based beverages as legitimate dairy alternatives, an issue FDA itself has acknowledged is a public health threat. Other efforts include our campaign for a stricter version of FDA’s draft guidance on plant-based beverage labeling, multiple letters to the agency, and a Freedom of Information Act request on agency communications regarding plant-based beverages.

NMPF Provides Comments to Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee

NMPF’s Regulatory Affairs Director, along with an Olympic athlete (and dairy farmer), told the government’s Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee how dairy is a critical part of American diets that should be considered for its full range of benefits in comments made before the panel Sept. 12.

Miquela Hanselman from NMPF, and Elle St. Pierre, a farmer-member of the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative and a world medalist track athlete who represented the United States in the women’s 1,500-meter race in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, both offered their perspectives on dairy’s role in the diet before the panel that will shape the scientific report informing the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Hanselman’s comments focused heavily on how dairy at all fat levels haven neutral or positive health benefits and how current guidelines work against including the varieties of milk that Americans consume the most.

“With the scientific question focused on sources of saturated fats, this committee has the opportunity to remedy a previous oversight and include the newer science on dairy fats and the dairy matrix,” she said. “Dairy foods, regardless of fat level, appear to have either neutral or beneficial effects on chronic disease risks including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and stroke. This committee shouldn’t default to the overly broad recommendation to avoid saturated fats regardless of food source.”

St. Pierre, a U.S. track and field champion and recent new mom, spoke out against the proliferation of plant-based imitation beverages that offer wildly inconsistent nutritional value, cautioning against any consideration of them as potential dairy replacements.

Plant-based beverages “are so nutritionally different from real milk that whether one views them positively or negatively, their impact on health cannot be assumed to be the same as, or even similar to, that of milk,” said St. Pierre, who lives near Berkshire, VT. “I strongly caution against and oppose any inference that health impacts associated with milk consumption would apply to plant-based milk alternatives.”

Public oral comments are part of the committee’s information-gathering process for the next set of guidelines. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is convened every five years by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services to make recommendations for American diets, affecting many federal nutrition programs.

Milk Advocates Stress Dairy’s Unique Nutrition Benefits Before Dietary Guidelines Committee

NMPF’s Regulatory Affairs Director, along with an Olympic athlete (and dairy farmer), told the government’s Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee how dairy is a critical component of diet that should be considered in light of its full range of benefits in comments made today before the panel.

Miquela Hanselman from NMPF, and Elle St. Pierre, a farmer-member of the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative and a world medalist track athlete who represented the United States in the women’s 1,500-meter race in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, both offered their perspectives on dairy’s role in diet before the panel that will shape the scientific report informing the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Both Hanselman and St. Pierre hold degrees in nutrition and public health.

“Nearly 90% of Americans don’t consume the recommended servings of dairy,” said Hanselman. “Dairy products have always been an integral part of the dietary guidelines. Milk is a good or excellent source of 13 essential nutrients, including calcium, potassium and vitamin D, three of the four nutrients of public health concern.”

Hanselman’s comments focused heavily on how dairy at all fat levels benefits diverse communities and how current guidelines work against including varieties of milk that Americans consume the most. “With the scientific question focused on sources of saturated fats, this committee has the opportunity to remedy a previous oversight and include the newer science on dairy fats and the dairy matrix,” she said. “Dairy foods, regardless of fat level, appear to have either neutral or beneficial effects on chronic disease risks including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and stroke. This committee shouldn’t default to the overly broad recommendation to avoid saturated fats regardless of food source.”

St. Pierre, a U.S. track and field champion and recent new mom, spoke out against the proliferation of plant-based imitation beverages that offer wildly inconsistent nutritional value, cautioning against any consideration of them as potential dairy replacements. Plant-based beverages “are so nutritionally different from real milk that whether one views them positively or negatively, their impact on health cannot be assumed to be the same as, or even similar to, that of milk,” said St. Pierre, who lives near Berkshire, VT. “I strongly caution against and oppose any inference that health impacts associated with milk consumption would apply to plant-based milk alternatives.”

Today’s hearing is part of the committee’s information-gathering process for the next set of guidelines. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is convened every five years by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services to make recommendations for American diets, affecting numerous federal nutrition programs.

Regulatory Staff Protect and Advance Dairy

  • Pushed for labeling integrity and FDA to enforce its own standards of identity, filing extensive comments in response to its draft guidance on plant-based beverage labeling
  • Personally urged FDA Commissioner Robert Califf to develop labeling standards for cell-based and synthetic “dairy” products
  • Successfully advocated for dairy cooperatives and their producer members at the National Conference of Interstate Milk Shipments to ensure they have a voice in any updates made to the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance
  • Filed comments on FDA’s proposed “healthy” definition pushing for milk, cheese and yogurt to qualify, thus better educating consumers on dairy’s nutritional benefits
  • Outlined animal health priorities with USDA APHIS

Regulatory work is often just as much about fighting against harmful rules, as it is pushing for positive change. Efforts this year have ranged from pressuring FDA to enforce its own standards of identity for milk and develop labeling standards for cell-based products to representing member views on issues including the biannual update of the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance and EPA PFAS regulations.

FDA’s draft guidance on labeling for plant-based beverages released in February encourages plant-based beverage manufacturers who choose to use dairy terms to voluntarily disclose their nutritional differences with real milk. NMPF regulatory staff submitted comments July 31 emphasizing the importance of transparent product labeling to ensure consumer understanding FDA’s need to enforce its own standards of identity for milk.

NMPF staff also elevated the need for FDA to develop labeling standards for cell-based products to end dairy product mislabeling and prevent a repeat of the plant-based labeling fiasco through a conversation and letter addressed to Commissioner Califf sent on June 26.

The biannual National Conference of Interstate Milk Shipments convened in April to revise the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, with NMPF regulatory staff playing a vital role in the conference deliberations. NMPF submitted three proposals at the conference, dealing with on-farm biosecurity and defining equivalency – all of which had positive outcomes.

Following a proposed rule from FDA to update the labeling definition of “healthy” to align more closely with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), NMPF urged FDA to include a broader range of dairy products, thus educating consumers about dairy’s nutritional value and improve consumption closer to DGA recommendations.

NMPF in August met with USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) leadership to discuss dairy’s domestic and international animal health priorities. Staff emphasized the importance of collaboration between industry and government on preparedness for foreign animal diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease.

To further NMPF’s antibiotic stewardship work, Chief Science Officer Jamie Jonker, Ph.D., was appointed to the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance to provide an animal health perspective to the group’s goal of strengthening global political momentum on the issue.

NMPF Protecting Dairy in School Nutrition Programs

NMPF submitted comments on May 10 advocating for continuing to serve low-fat flavored milk in addition to fat-free varieties for all grade levels and highlighting the role milk, cheese and yogurt play in making school meals the healthiest meals children consume.

The comments were in response to a proposed rule USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published Feb. 7 to update school meal standards, intended to take effect beginning with the 2024-2025 school year. This proposed rule is the latest step FNS has taken to update school meal standards dating to passage of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act in 2010.

The proposed rule continues to allow low-fat flavored milk in school meals, but potentially in a more limited fashion. FNS puts forward two different options for flavored milk in its proposed rule, requesting input on both options. The first would allow low-fat and fat-free flavored milk for either grades 6-12 or 9-12 only. The second would maintain current standards, allowing low-fat and fat-free flavored milk for all grade levels. The proposal also puts forward added sugar and sodium limits that will be phased into school meals in future school years, both of which could limit varieties of school milk, yogurt, and cheese that can be served in school meal programs.

Since 2010, multiple USDA rulemakings have intended to make school meals healthier, with NMPF working hard to ensure that changes don’t inadvertently reduce kids’ actual diet quality and nutrient intake. This includes NMPF’s leading role in getting USDA to reinstate the low-fat flavored milk option in school meal programs after its removal by a 2012 rule. NMPF’s work here includes working closely with Chairman GT Thompson, R-PA, and Representative Joe Courtney, D-CT, over multiple congresses on their School Milk Nutrition Act, which would guarantee that schools have the choice to serve any milk variety consistent with federal dietary guidelines.

To further support school meals, NMPF and IDFA submitted joint comments May 8 on the proposed rule, “Child Nutrition Programs: Community Eligibility Provisions – Increasing Options for Schools” supporting lowering the percentage of enrolled students certified for free school meals without submitting a household application from 40% to 25%. As noted in the preamble to the rule proposing the change, a study showed that schools that implemented the community eligibility provision (CEP) attained participation rates about 7 percent higher for lunch and 12 percent higher for breakfast, compared to similar schools that did not choose the provision.

Providing healthy meals to all students helps address longstanding inequities based on race, income and other factors that contribute to disparities of nutritional intakes and health outcomes.

On Labeling, Keep Your Eye on the Carton

FDA has finally offered its draft guidance on the “Labeling of Plant-Based (Nutritionally Inferior and Misleading) Milk Alternatives.” So now what?

Pay attention to this:



This is from FDA’s draft guidance, showing labeling best practices for plant-based manufacturers. The guidance itself would allow plant-based beverage manufacturers to keep using “milk” on their labeling, but only if – and this is a huge “if” – they include disclosures like the ones above specifying nutritional differences. That isn’t enough to truly protect consumers, but it’s a start. Even more importantly, the agency has accepted the reality of consumer confusion over nutritional equivalence, the main argument dairy and its allies have been making for years. With that premise acknowledged and accepted, the logical conclusion –end the confusion by getting dairy terms off the labels – becomes much easier to achieve.

The draft guidance gives plant-based beverage purveyors a choice: They can use “milk” with their plant-based term and disclose their differences (i.e. shortcomings) on their packaging, or they can skip the disclaimers by not using a dairy term at all. That’s the solution consumer advocates and dairy farmers have been pushing for all along.

The next few months will be telling in whether the plant-based beverage industry gets the message.

If this guidance is taken seriously, the most misleading labels should start to disappear as packaging gets updated and store shelves get restocked. Many mislabeled “milks” that are really drinks or beverages should start being labeled as drinks or beverages. For those that stubbornly insist on misleading consumers, disclosures should appear – real ones with clear statements, not wiggle words in tiny print that say differences exist without stating what those differences are. The guidance is voluntary, and it’s only a draft, but FDA has put the industry on notice. The next move’s on them.

And it’s on us too, to make sure positive change really happens. FDA’s public comment period on the guidance lasts until April 24. NMPF has directions on how you can submit a comment. Meanwhile, take pictures to post on social media. Write companies that aren’t living up to the labeling example above. FDA’s guidance is far from enough. That’s why we’re pushing to pass the DAIRY PRIDE Act, which would direct FDA to enforce its own standard of identity for milk – which, had that occurred in the first place, plant-based misinformation would never have proliferated.

The fight for transparent labeling, is far from over, but it’s going the right way. Keep your eye on the carton. Change should be coming. It’s up to all of us to make sure that it does.

NMPF Submits Comments to Proposed WIC Rule

NMPF submitted comments Feb. 21 urging USDA to not include the proposed cuts to dairy in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), pointing out that reducing dairy could lower participation in the program.

“Reducing the amount of dairy available in WIC packages will decrease participants’ access to valuable nutrients needed during pivotal life stages, such as the first thousand days of a child’s life and their mother’s pregnancy and lactation, and those proposed reductions could lead to long-term negative health consequences,” NMPF said in its comments. With milk, cheese and yogurt being three of the five top redeemed items in the WIC program, NMPF is concerned reducing access to dairy will reduce participation in WIC as participants won’t be able to get the foods they value.

The rule also included some positive proposed changes, such as requiring the authorization of lactose-free milk, increasing the yogurt substitution amounts for milk and flexibilities for yogurt size containers, which are important steps to ensuring dairy and its nutrients are accessible for all WIC participants. The proposed rule was largely based on a 2017 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report that made recommendations based in part on the principle that any changes be budget-neutral; USDA’s proposal is not budget-neutral, removing one of the key justifications for following that report’s recommendations on that would reduce dairy access.

NMPF’s comments also emphasized the importance of nutritional equivalency for any plant-based alternatives that may be allowed to be substituted for dairy products.

NMPF and IDFA met with USDA last December, emphasizing the two organizations’ concerns with the proposed cuts to dairy. Both organizations will continue to monitor the situation closely.