The issue of food labeling is one of those potential hot-button items when it comes to U.S. lawmakers. And that has not changed as was evidenced in a recent hearing on the Food and Drug Administration's Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 budget.
And it is one that farm-state lawmakers, especially those from dairy states, have continued to focus on in the wake of the rise of plant-based food products that use terms like “milk” on the labels of the products.
Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock was confronted by those issues during the hearing, with Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., zeroing in on the topic as she questioned Woodcock.
Baldwin has introduced a bill that would seek to require FDA to issue guidance for nationwide enforcement of mislabeled imitation dairy products within 90 days. “I'm sometimes dismayed that I even have to offer a measure like this,” she told Woodcock. “FDA does not enforce the regulations it has on the books. So, dairy farmers follow these rules, day in and day out in order to be able to honestly label their product as milk, or cheese, or yogurt. Yet a range of imitation dairy products have gotten away with using these dairy terms, even though they don't follow the agency's rules.”
So her question to Woodcock focused on what the agency is doing to address what she says is a violation of FDA labeling requirements. “We are working on updated guidance that would make sure consumers understood,” Woodcock said. “We're particularly concerned about nutritional value. For example, calcium, vitamin D, protein. Some of these other products are not comparable and safe. They were fed to a young child or infant, they wouldn't be getting what the consumer, the mother or parent thought the child was getting.”
But Woodcock was able to offering little other assurance to Baldwin except to say FDA “will try to get that as soon as possible.”
Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., delved into the issue of plant-based proteins and labeling on those products. Hoeven put his attention on the fact that USDA is in charge of labeling on animal products. “If there's animal terminology or imagery used, and of course, and on the animal side, we want USDA doing -- driving labeling,” he commented. “We understand you to have it in the Food and Drug side, from the plant and drug side. But, you know, how do you prevent misleading labeling for these products?”
“We have to establish clear standards, and we work very closely with USDA on these issues to make sure they have labeling principles and so forth to make sure that that those are out there and people understand them,” Woodcock replied. “So some is education, some is enforcement to make sure that if things are mislabeled that, that we provide feedback to companies.”
Noting the confusion that unfolds with a beef product and a similarly named plant-based product, Hoeven noted, including for both the consumer but also livestock producer.
“I would say on the plant side, there are many people who want to make sure they're eating a plant product, too,” Woodcock observed. “So these need to be very labeled very clearly which one they are so that people are not misled.”
So we will see. The issue of things like common food names being applied to similar plant-based products has long been a focal point for the U.S. dairy and other sectors. And as these alternatives continue to grow, it is an issue that needs to be monitored closely, Washington Insider believes.