Wisconsin Farm Bureau Statement on FDA Enforcement of Food Labeling Standards

In response to the Food and Drug Administration issuing their guidance for plant-based products, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation President Kevin Krentz issued the following statement:

“Consumers choose milk because it is a trusted term associated with quality and nutrition. This trust has been built over generations of Wisconsin dairy farmers who take pride in producing a quality product with regulations that reflect that quality. Plant-based milk alternatives are not milk. They aren’t held to the same regulations and therefore should not be labeled as milk.

Wisconsin dairy farmers produce the best, most nutritious milk on the market while plant-based products are allowed to coop the label for their own benefit. The FDA cannot choose which regulation to enforce and which it will ignore. In this case, federal regulations are clear and FDA still chose to issue guidance in conflict with their own definitions, hurting Wisconsin farmers in the process. If federal agencies are going to ignore their own regulations, Congress must act to force compliance and protect farmers.

Wisconsin Farm Bureau is in full support of Senator Tammy Baldwin’s introduction of the DAIRY PRIDE Act, which would force the FDA to abide by their own definitions.”