State milk regulators have requested the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) help enforce the proper use of milk and milk product labeling terms, especially those meant to distinguish between real dairy and plant-based products. That battle may have gained additional support with the release of a new study of dairy and alternative protein sources.
FDA inaction criticized
The pushback by state officials against “FDA’s history of inaction on labeling enforcement” came at the biennial meeting of the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS), May 12-17 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. State milk safety regulators unanimously approved a resolution intended to clarify the responsibilities of FDA and state programs in ensuring the proper use of standardized dairy product names.
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) hailed the resolution as “the strongest statement yet that the abuse of dairy terms has gone too far.”
“It’s time for FDA to work with state agencies in defending standards of identity for dairy products,” said Beth Briczinski, NMPF vice president of dairy foods and nutrition. “FDA needs to stop picking and choosing which regulations it wants to enforce.”
The NCIMS is a national cooperative regulatory program that includes state milk regulatory agencies, dairy companies and FDA. The states collaborate with federal regulators and industry groups to ensure the safety and integrity of dairy products regulated under the Grade “A” program, including fluid milk, yogurt and other dairy products.
NMPF continues to seek support for legislation called the DAIRY PRIDE Act, designed to ensure food labels are policed by regulators. The measure, introduced earlier this year in both the House and Senate, prompts FDA to implement its long-standing regulation specifying that milk and similar dairy foods must come from an animal source. By establishing a predictable regulatory environment in the marketplace, properly enforcing labeling standards “benefits the manufacturers of plant products as much as it helps dairy farmers,” said Jim Mulhern, NMPF president and CEO.
Federal assistance in the regulation of all products utilizing standardized dairy terms will ultimately benefit consumers who face an increasingly bewildering assortment of imitation dairy products, Briczinski said.
For example, FDA’s standards of identity specify that milk is the product of cows and other dairy animals, and that yogurt is the product obtained exclusively from the culturing of dairy ingredients. Absent any regulatory consistency about how these label terms are applied, “consumers are bound to be confused and misled by the growing variance in the nutritional and compositional content of imitation foods made from nuts, seeds and grains, but purporting to be dairy products,” Briczinski said.
A renewed emphasis by FDA on the regulation of dairy terms would bring the U.S. into closer alignment with how the issue is handled in other countries, Briczinski noted. Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union “do not allow plant-based imitators to call themselves milk on their packages. We have the same regulation on the books in the United States, but there has been no effort to enforce that policy.”
Dairy proteins top list
A new method of testing continues to put dairy atop the list of available protein sources.
According to a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, researchers at the University of Illinois assessed eight protein sources using a digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) test recommended by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The study evaluated dairy-based whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, milk protein concentrate and skimmed milk powder with pea protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, soy flour and whole-grain wheat.
Results suggested all dairy proteins tested can be considered “excellent/high” quality (scoring above or equal to 100) for people six months of age and older, ranking higher than soybeans, peas and wheat. Soy protein isolate and soy flour qualified as “good” sources of protein, with a DIAAS score between 75 and 100. Pea protein and whole-grain wheat concentrate scored below 75.
Read: Dairy Proteins Measured as High-Quality by Proposed New Method 
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Dave Natzke
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