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The FDA’s February draft also recommends “voluntary nutrient statements” for products with different nutrient compositions than dairy milk “to help consumers understand certain nutritional differences between milk and plant-based milk alternatives that use the term ‘milk’ in their name.”

Baldwin and the bipartisan group of senators behind the letter said the draft guidance does not distinguish dairy’s identity, leading to potential confusion over the products.

“Given the central role dairy plays in providing essential nutrients, the consumer misperception of nutritional equivalency between imitation products and dairy products can lead to serious health consequences,” the letter said.

Groups in favor of plant-based lifestyles are pleased with how milk substitutes “can be labeled with common and usual names,” said a spokesperson from Danone North America — the parent company of plant-based milk alternative producer Silk — in a statement. Still, some concerns regarding the voluntary nutrient statements remain.

The Good Food Institute’s senior regulatory attorney, Madeline Cohen, described the statements as “problematic,” considering how “consumers are smart enough to know that different products have different nutritional contents, and they know that they can find information about key nutrients on the Nutrition Facts Panel.”

“The guidance also ignores the fact that plant-based milks can offer nutritional qualities not found in cow’s milk,” Cohen said in the statement. “The new labeling scheme also puts an unfair burden on plant-based milk while giving animal milks a free pass.”

Baldwin said protecting the work of Wisconsin dairy farmers is among her priorities.

“Plant-based imitators that don’t meet those nutrition standards are tricking consumers,” she said in a statement. “It’s wrong and I am proud to stand up for our dairy farmers, our health and well-being.”

The senators advocated for representative labeling of plant-based imitators in the finalized guidance. Baldwin introduced legislation in February aimed at limiting this “mislabeling.”

The Good Food Institute reports that plant-based milk is the most robust plant-based food category, making up 35 percent of the industry’s market based on dollar sales.

– Elizabeth Casolo for Wisconsin Health News 

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