The National Milk Producers Federation’s battle against labeling plant-based milk alternatives — such as “almond milk” — with dairy terms is now also taking aim at lab-based products.
For decades, the federation has called on the Food and Drug Administration to enforce its labeling regulation on products that violate its own standard of identity for milk.
The FDA defines milk as a “lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows.”
Earlier this year, the federation warned the FDA the problem would be exponentially compounded should the agency fail to address the same labeling standards as synthetic, cell-based foods emerge from laboratories and seek to enter the marketplace.
“The labeling problems these synthetic products raise are already present — and it’s imperative that FDA take action now, before this situation spins out of control,” Jim Mulhern, the foundation’s president and CEO said in a June 26 letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf.
“FDA has a legal obligation to ensure that food labels are accurate, truthful and not misleading. Products are now coming into the marketplace that do not meet FDA Standards of Identity; the agency’s past failures to uniformly enforce these standards must not be repeated,” he said.
Mulhern pointed out a product called Bored Cow, touted by its maker Tomorrow Farms as “a new kind of alternative milk made with real milk protein from fermentation instead of factory farming. It’s real dairy, without the cow!”
“Despite its brazenly inappropriate label, the product is clearly not milk, as prescribed by FDA’s own Standard of Identity,” he said.
According to its website, Bored Cow is made with whey dairy protein produced through a fermentation process. It also contains plant fat, citrus fiber, vitamins and minerals.
“It is baseless, preposterous and absurd to call the resulting product ‘milk.’ It would be much more accurate to label it as a ‘synthetic whey beverage.’ In the interest of public health, the misleading labeling charade must end before it gets out of hand. FDA must act, and must do so now,” Mulhern said.
“We ask you to stop this false, misleading and completely unlawful labeling,” he said.
Tomorrow Farms CEO Ben Berman says the company is following FDA’s labeling guidelines.
“We are proud to offer Bored Cow to consumers around the country and are confident in our labeling of this innovative product offering,” he said in an emailed statement.
“Bored Cow’s label follows the recent draft guidance from the FDA on the labeling of plant-based milk alternatives. We take the utmost care in transparently explaining our product process, ingredients and benefits on our label and website,” he said.
He also returned a jab to the foundation.
“Ultimately, the NMPF is referencing a label that is in line with the FDA’s most recent thinking. While the NMPF is doing their best to stifle innovation, we trust consumers to make their own judgments and spot exciting new products when they see them,” he said.
