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Dairy leaders speak at FDA hearing on food identity standards

Dairy leaders commented at a Food and Drug Administration hearing on the modernization of food identity standards.

Aaron Stauffacher from EDGE Dairy Cooperative told the hearing the agency should enforce existing standards of identity for dairy products.  “They should be protecting the ones that are on the books and have been on the books for a number of years so customers aren’t misled into buying nutritionally inferior alternative products.”

Stauffacher tells Brownfield that giving customers the best information starts by accurately labeling food products.

Tom Balmer with the National Milk Producers Federation also spoke to the FDA and says the process will take a while.  “The FDA is not really showing their hand on long-term aspects.  They’re in the midst of taking comments.  They have what they call an open docket now through the end of August on standards of identity.  They are going to open a docket specific to dairy standards which the commissioner did reference today.”

Dairy groups and plant-based producers were both represented at the hearing.