Improper Use of Dairy Terms

Have you ever wondered how you would go about milking an almond to produce almond milk, or do you milk a soybean to produce soy milk? Which brings up a bigger topic why is vegetable or nut drinks being marketing as milk?
Congressmen Mike Simpson from Idaho and Peter Welch from Vermont in a recent letter signed by bipartisan coalition of 32 of their fellow House members had a similar question of the FDA Commissioner Robert Califf. The letter stated that the use of the term “milk" by manufacturers of plant-based products is misleading to consumers, harmful to the dairy industry, and a violation of milk’s standard of identity. Field Reporter Susan Allen has more
Allen: “The letter asked for more aggressive policing of the improper use of dairy terms, which are used on the labels of many products that have no dairy ingredients. The Federal Standards of identity stipulate that milk and related foods have to be made from animal sources to established dairy terms. Similar concerns have been voiced previously by dairy organizations , with groups urging the FDA to restrict the use of dairy terms on labels of plant-based imitation products such as milk, cheese and yogurt.”
Simpson and Welch provided the European Union’s product terminology that could be used instead for plant-based drinks. EU regulators allow the use of the term “soy drink” but prohibit “soy milk”.