Monday, February 11, 2019
FDA Crackdown On Calling Almond Milk 'Milk' Could Violate The First Amendment
The Food and Drug Administration ended a public comment period on Monday over whether it should continue to allow plant-based products to use words like "milk" and "cheese" in their labeling. This followed public statements by FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who quipped last year that almond milk should not be called milk because "an almond doesn't lactate."
The FDA's possible change in approach pits the powerful dairy industry against the makers behind up-and-coming alternative milks, like almond, coconut, soy, and oat. Between 2012 and 2017, sales of non-dairy milks grew over 60%, with almond milk taking a 64% market share. During that same period, dairy milk sales dropped by 15%, according to Mintel.
Last week, the Institute for Justice entered the fray and submitted its own comment, warning that the labeling ban "would confuse consumers, harm small businesses across the country, and raise serious First Amendment concerns."
"If a consumer is confused about the source of a product labeled `almond milk,' then he has bigger problems than being confused about which milk to buy," said Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Justin Pearson, who authored IJ's comment to the FDA. "The government does not have the power to change the dictionary."
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4 comments:
I remember when margarine was white and came with a packet of yellow food coloring.
I used to eat cornflakes with soy liquid for breakfast, but I don't eat that much breakfast anymore.
milk noun
1 a : a fluid secreted by the mammary glands of females for the nourishment of their young
b(1) : milk from an animal and especially a cow used as food by people
(2) : a food product produced from seeds or fruit that resembles and is used
similarly to cow's milk
// coconut milk
// soy milk
2 : a liquid resembling milk in appearance: such as
a : the latex of a plant
b : the contents of an unripe kernel of grain
3 : LACTATION
// cows in milk
(source Merriam-Webster)
Soy milk is listed in the dictionary under milk. So what's the big issue?
Under federal law, it is illegal to call milk that has had the cream skimmed from it (skim milk), "skim milk."
I kid you not.
It's even sillier than it being listed in the dictionary under "milk". Almond Milk has been used, under either that name or a close translation, since the Middle Ages.
The Bureaucrats need to be told to sit the f*ck down and shut the f*ck up. But then, they usually do.
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