Pushed by Big Dairy, FDA To Block Plant-Based Milk Labeling

Prompted by desperate dairy industry attempts to boost curdling sales and impede the rapidly growing plant-based market, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) will begin to enforce regulations defining milk as an animal product — preventing plant-based milks from being labeled “milk.”

This misguided move, announced by FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, would apply dated FDA standards to the market requiring that “milk” labeling refer solely to cholesterol-laden cow’s milk while stopping nutritionally and ethically superior alternatives like almond, oat, and soy milk from being labeled with the word “milk.”

Before beginning enforcements, however, the FDA will seek public comment on the change, and Gottlieb even acknowledged at a summit on Tuesday that the FDA was “invariably likely to get sued” over the arbitrary regulation.

In a pitch for FDA enforcement, The National Milk Producers Federation wrote Gottlieb last year, claiming labeling of non-dairy beverages to be “rampant consumer fraud.” Compassion Over Killing suggested that if the dairy industry is truly worried about consumer confusion, it should label its own product “cow’s milk”!

Tell the dairy industry: call your product what it is! Click to sign the petition.

While Big Dairy has been worrying about the popularity of plant-based milk, their own spoiling sales have been driving them to dump 43 million gallons of milk, kill over 500,000 young cows, and even be sued for violating antitrust laws. How’s that for fraud?

The current regulations that FDA is now so keen to enforce define “milk”  as “lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows.” How about enforcing that, FDA? Compassion Over Killing investigations have shown that dairy cows on most factory farms are kept in filthy conditions and many suffer from mastitis, a painful inflammation of the udders.

The dairy industry clearly doesn’t trust consumers to know what they want! When shoppers reach for plant-based milk, it’s not because they’re being duped. They are simply making healthier, more ethical choices for their families, animals, and the planet.

Cow’s milk is made by cows for their calves. Sign COK’s petition for Big Dairy to label their product accurately and call it cow’s milk!

Plus, sign up to receive our e-newsletter so you can stay up to date! We’ll let you know when the FDA’s comment period opens so you can take action.