The dairy aisles can be a bit of a puzzle these days due to the misleading labeling of plant and nut-based beverages as “milk.” Don’t mistake me here, everyone should have the options they are looking for, but they also need to know exactly what they are getting. According to the Food and Drug Administration, that’s not happening with dairy. Roughly one in four Americans have felt misled when reaching for a non-dairy option because the term “milk” led them to believe they were actually getting milk.
Dairy alternatives have surged in popularity recently, offering consumers a wide range of choices such as soy, oat, almond, rice and coconut. But since these products use dairy terms, like milk and cream, there has been a growing concern regarding the clarity of these labels and adherence to the standards of identity established by the FDA.
The FDA’s standard of identity serves as a defining framework for products within the marketplace to ensure consumers get what they are paying for. For example, “jams” must contain a minimum amount of fruit, and the terms “cheese alternative” or “cheese substitute,” must be used for products that don’t meet a minimum standard for cheese. However, despite the existence of a standard for milk, enforcement by the FDA has notably been absent and allowed various plant and nut-based products to use terms like “milk” without repercussions.
This leniency has caused confusion for consumers and raised questions about fair branding practices. The American consumer has come to know and trust the health benefits of real, dairy milk, but this mislabeling has hijacked the term and trust in quality and nutritional value that goes along with it.