Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Cory Booker
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Mike Lee (R-UT) along with Representatives Julia Brownley (CA-26) and Nancy Mace (SC-1) are urging the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to reject any guidance proposed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that would unfairly impose labeling requirements on plant-based milks differently from animal milks.
Noting in a letter to OMB Director Shalanda Young that “for decades, the FDA has declined to clarify standards for plant-based milks, even as other federal agencies have increasingly adopted plant-based milks and names into programs,” the Members of Congress wrote that “there is no reason for OMB to now allow regulation in this space, which would contradict FDA’s own rules as well as court rulings.” The letter highlighted a recent legal rulings that “found that the use of qualifying terms such as soy, almond or oat next to the term ‘milk’ mitigates against confusion regarding nutritional equivalency” and that “two distinct food products necessarily have different nutritional profiles.”
The letter also outlined that the “FDA has not previously asked producers to disclose other wide variations in nutritional components – including among milks derived from different animals.” To support the point, the Senators cited as an example of the significant nutritional differences that exist between goat milk and cow milk.
“Any guidance, even if voluntary, that asks plant-based milks to identify differences without doing the same for animal milk is discriminatory towards the plant-based industry as well as the hard-working farmers who grow crops like oats and almonds,” the letter continued. “FDA should not be using its labeling authority to harm a growing industry and the millions of American consumers for whom plant-based foods are an important part of their diet.”
The letter concluded by calling on the OMB to return any draft guidance that treats animal-based and plant-based milks differently to the FDA without moving forward.