In February, the United States Food and Drug Administration released draft guidelines on labelling of plant-based dairy alternatives, which the peak American dairy body National Milk Producers Federation, has said are inadequate and fail to remedy the problem.
In response, Republicans and Democrats from dairy states have introduced the US Dairy Pride Act, which is intended to correct unfair practices of mislabelling non-dairy products and enforce correct labelling.
What has occurred in the US highlights a similar issue in Australia.
The Australian and New Zealand Food Standards Code states that milk is derived from the 'mammary secretions of milking animals'. It is not crushed 'nuts' mixed with water and then fortified.
Milk is of immense nutritional value containing nine essential nutrients as well as calcium to build and maintain healthy bone strength for growing children and the elderly. This has been confirmed by numerous scientific studies.
In January 2017, I said consumers should not be confused between the nutritional value of cows' milk as against plant-based drinks.
This was confirmed at the time by the European Court of Justice when it ruled in favour of the need to differentiate between dairy and plant derived products.
Supermarket customers would benefit from 'truth in labelling' as it would allow greater consumer awareness about the nutritional differences.
To obtain this goal, it has been suggested that a voluntary code could be introduced.
Voluntary codes do not work. They are honoured more in the breach than followed. The mandatory dairy code of conduct illustrates this point about the need for proper enforcement as against voluntary codes.
It is time for federal government action to ensure existing regulations deliver accurate food labelling for products.
Of course, plant-based drinks should continue to be available for people who wish to buy such products, whether for health style or medical reasons.
The correct labelling of 'milks' should occur now to ensure that supermarket customers can make informed decisions about the milk they buy.
Iconic dairy terms for dairy farmers should be protected.
This should not be so hard or take so long.
