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 hereand 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.
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