The legislation would ban the labeling of products as milk or as a dairy product or ingredient if the food was not made from the milk of a cow, sheep, goat, or other mammals.
“The plant-based food industry increasingly masquerades its products as real dairy foods,” says DBA President Tom Crave, DBA President. “This mislabeling confuses customers who often make judgments about a food’s nutritional value based on its name. Milk is milk and cheese is cheese, customers deserve transparency.”
A recent national survey about imitation cheese confirms customer confusion. About one-quarter of customers mistakenly think plant-based products that mimic cheese contain milk. About one-quarter of customers purchase plant-based foods that mimic cheese because they believe them to be low in calories and fat, as well as without additives. The reality is plant-based foods contain a comparable amount of fat and calories and substantially more additives than dairy cheeses.