Milk Labelling bill Pt 1
I'm Bob Larson. Websters defines milk as a fluid secreted by the mammary glands of females for the nourishment of their young, or from an animal, especially a cow, used as food by people.
That said, Whatcom County Senator Doug Ericksen has authored a bill prohibiting makers of milk-substitutes from calling their products "milk" ...
ERICKSEN ... "So far, the response has been, hmmm, that's a good idea. We shouldn't allow things to be called milk that aren't milk."
Ericksen says a recent IPSOS poll showing 61% of people surveyed believe the term milk should be used for dairy products only is no surprise ...
ERICKSEN ... "No, I think that's what people want. People want to know what they're putting into their bodies and they want to understand what it is. You know, we've had some nasty phone calls into the office (ringing sound) from people thinking that we're somehow ban soy milk or ban almond milk or any of those other things and, of course, we're not doing that. People are still perfectly free to go out there and purchase those products, but they just won't be called milk hopefully here in Washington state in the very near future."
So, what's next for SB 5349 ...
ERICKSEN ... "Yeah, actually, we're going to have a hearing on that piece of legislation Tuesday, here in Olympia. That's January 29th. So, the Senate Agriculture Committee is going to give the bill a hearing so hopefully it'll get some people coming out from the industry to talk about it, and hopefully support my legislation and let the people in Olympia here know that we need to have a little truth in labeling and protect the "Milk" trademark, so to speak."
The FDA could enforce existing regulations and prohibit non-dairy beverage companies from using the term "milk" on their product labels.
