To: FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb
Tell the FDA not to ban almond milk
The dairy lobby is trying to ban almond, soy, oat, and other plant-based products from using the term milk. Please tell the FDA that this special-interest crusade is a waste of government resources.
Why is this important?
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb surprised everyone when he announced that the FDA is considering banning terms like "almond milk" on the labels of plant-based milks. Why? “Almonds don’t lactate,” he quipped.
He was only half-kidding: it really does come down to lactation. For years, there’s been a standard on the books that specifies that the word milk must refer to the lacteal secretions of a cow. It’s always been the rule that you can’t put the plain-old unadorned label milk on almond milk, soy milk, or even goat’s milk.
But now Big Dairy is seeing its sales plummet while almond, soy, oat, and other plant-based milks gain market share. So dairy lobbyists have taken the position that the FDA should ban the word "milk" from plant-based labels altogether, even when it appears after the words almond, soy, or oat. Call it beverage or drink, they say, not milk.
The Good Food Institute is a nonprofit organization that works to create a better future of food. Sign the petition and we'll pass along your signature and comments as part of the public feedback period on Docket ID: FDA-2018-N-2381. The deadline is August 27, so we should act fast. Join us in telling Trump’s FDA that the government has no business censoring plant-based labels. Common sense should win out over dairy lobbyists.
He was only half-kidding: it really does come down to lactation. For years, there’s been a standard on the books that specifies that the word milk must refer to the lacteal secretions of a cow. It’s always been the rule that you can’t put the plain-old unadorned label milk on almond milk, soy milk, or even goat’s milk.
But now Big Dairy is seeing its sales plummet while almond, soy, oat, and other plant-based milks gain market share. So dairy lobbyists have taken the position that the FDA should ban the word "milk" from plant-based labels altogether, even when it appears after the words almond, soy, or oat. Call it beverage or drink, they say, not milk.
The Good Food Institute is a nonprofit organization that works to create a better future of food. Sign the petition and we'll pass along your signature and comments as part of the public feedback period on Docket ID: FDA-2018-N-2381. The deadline is August 27, so we should act fast. Join us in telling Trump’s FDA that the government has no business censoring plant-based labels. Common sense should win out over dairy lobbyists.