The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation, which comprises all Australian and New Zealand ministers responsible for food and is chaired by Senator Richard Colbeck, delivered a communique on Friday regarding the system.
While it outlined the pros and cons of labelling plant-based alternatives to dairy milk as ‘milk’, it did not come to any conclusion.
Dietitians Association of Australia spokesperson and accredited practising dietitian Alan Barclay said it was with good reason that the use of the word ‘milk’ to describe plant drinks was debated.
“I don’t think consumers are stupid, I just think they need to be given the correct information and that includes how comparable these products are to cow milk and other mammalian milks,” he said.
“We’ve got to keep it in context that milk is defined in the Food Standards Code so there is technically an argument that they’re not exactly following that particular piece of legislation.
“I think it should be looked at and it should be debated in the community and, hopefully, a rational decision will be made.”
Dairy Connect has been advocating to have the use of the word ‘milk’ reserved for animal milks for years and chief executive Shaughn Morgan was unhappy with the ministerial communique.
“Dairy Connect is disappointed by the communique that has come out of the ministerial council meeting held in New Zealand,” Mr Morgan said.
“The communique seems to be silent in relation to the importance of truth in labelling for milk and we call upon Senator Colbeck as a matter of urgency to address this issue, an issue that’s been raised over the past three years.
“It is deeply concerning that Australia is falling behind the activities that are currently being done in other nations, such as France, and Australia should be leading the pack, not following.
“Dairy Connect had a meeting with [Federal Agriculture Minister] Bridget McKenzie on Tuesday and raised with her the plant-based drinks issue, and thanked her for ongoing support but that did indicate that we needed the responsible minister to move forward as a matter of urgency.”
Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) also described the ministerial communique as “vague” but said it contained some good news.
“We are pleased that ministers at the Ministerial Food Forum agreed to continue the health star rating on a voluntary basis, which is something the dairy industry has been pushing for,” an ADF spokesperson said.
“Ultimately, the best outcome is for all Five Food Group milk, cheese and yoghurt to receive a minimum of three stars.
“We are still unclear on the specific acceptance of improvements for yoghurt and cheese but the industry looks forward to working with the Food Standards Australia New Zealand on modelling.”