Plant-Based Milk Can Be Called ‘Milk’: FDA Proposes Draft Labeling Guidance
Plant-based food companies can now label their alternative milk products, such as oat and almond milk, as “milk,” according to draft labeling recommendations that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released on Feb. 22.
But if companies do call their products “milk,” the guidance recommends they should clearly label the beverage’s plant source, such as “coconut milk” or “soy milk,” along with “voluntary nutrient statements” that explain the nutritional differences between their “milk” and “cow’s milk.”
“Today’s draft guidance was developed to help address the significant increase in plant-based milk alternative products that we have seen become available in the marketplace over the past decade,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf said in a Feb. 22 statement announcing the recommendations, adding that such recommendations to the plant-based food industry should better enable consumers to make “informed nutrition and purchasing decisions on the products they buy for themselves and their families.”…