Mike Pearson takes a look at the labeling rules for plant based milk alternatives.

In February 2023, the Food and Drug Administration issued draft guidance on the labeling rules for plant based milk alternatives.

In 2018, the dairy industry asked for the FDA to looking into whether oat, almond and soy milk products could use the term, "milk."

So the FDA issued 3 questions to consumers:

A total of 13,000 answers were received.

The FDA concluded that consumers understand that soy, almond and oat beverages are not "milk."

The FDA also concluded that those products are allowed to use the term "milk" but they did recommend the products put a voluntary nutritional label on the products.

Now, the FDA has to create the final rules.

Meanwhile, dairy producers feel consumers should know what is nutritionally missing from planted based alternative "milk" compared to traditional "dairy."

Farm Progress America is a daily look at key issues in agriculture. It is produced and presented by Mike Pearson, a farm broadcaster and host of This Week in Agribusiness.