Posted May 7, 2014
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) recently
criticized the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ignoring the misuse
of dairy-specific names in foods with no milk content, according to an article
by USAgNet available here. Agri-View and Farm Futures also reported on
the story here
and here.
The NMPF sent a letter to the FDA questioning why the
agency is focused on clarifying the common or usual name for “dried cane syrup”
or “evaporated cane juice” – a type of dried sugar used as a food ingredient,
while it allows soy, rice, nut, and hemp products to define themselves as milk.
In the letter, the NMPF wrote it is not advising FDA “on
an appropriate name for what would be obvious to most consumers is a type of
sweetener, but rather to question the Agency’s allocation of resources to such
an effort.” The letter continued, “It
seems rather disingenuous for the Agency to utilized its often-referenced ‘limited
resources’ to issue additional labeling guidance, while simultaneously not
enforcing existing regulations pertaining to the identity of foods” including imitation
dairy products.
For more information on food labeling, please visit the
National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
