II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 549 

To require enforcement against misbranded milk alternatives. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2023 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. RISCH, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. WELCH, Mr. KING, 

Ms. STABENOW, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. MARSHALL, Ms. SMITH, Mr. LUJA ́N, 

and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To require enforcement against misbranded milk alternatives. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Defending Against 

5 Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, Milk, and Cheese 

6 To Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday Act’’ or 

7 the ‘‘DAIRY PRIDE Act’’. 

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

9 Congress finds as follows: 

10 (1) Dairy products are an important part of a 

11 healthy diet for both children and adults, according 


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1 to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025 

2 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Dietary Guide3 lines’’) published by the Department of Agriculture 

4 and the Department of Health and Human Services. 

5 The Dietary Guidelines state that most Americans 

6 are not meeting recommended intake for the dairy 

7 food group. 

8 (2) Consumption of dairy foods provides numer9 ous health benefits, including lowering the risk of di10 abetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, 

11 and obesity. 

12 (3) The Dietary Guidelines state that dairy 

13 foods are sources of critical nutrients for human 

14 health, including vitamin D, calcium, and potassium, 

15 all of which are under consumed by people of the 

16 United States. Even though average consumption 

17 falls short of amounts recommended by the Food 

18 Patterns of the Department of Agriculture, on aver19 age across the calorie levels dairy foods still con20 tribute about 68 percent of calcium, 76 percent of 

21 vitamin D, and 31 percent of magnesium. 

22 (4) Beginning at age 9 and persisting through23 out every subsequent life-stage, individuals in the 

24 United States on average fail to meet the rec25 ommended amount of dairy intake for their age 


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1 group, according to the Dietary Guidelines. The Die2 tary Guidelines note the gap between recommended 

3 and current intake of dairy widens throughout life 

4 stages and find the age-related decreasing intake of 

5 dairy for youth ages 2 through 18 to be ‘‘notable 

6 and concerning’’. Overall, approximately 90 percent 

7 of the entire population of the United States does 

8 not meet the daily dairy intake recommendation. 

9 (5) The Dietary Guidelines state that the nutri10 ent composition of dairy foods highlights the impor11 tance of adequate consumption, finding this to be es12 pecially relevant for the intake of calcium and vita13 min D throughout an individual’s life. The Dietary 

14 Guidelines note that calcium and vitamin D are im15 portant at any age, that adolescents have an in16 creased need for these nutrients to support accrual 

17 of bone mass, and that adults should give particular 

18 attention to consuming adequate amounts of foods 

19 with these nutrients to promote optimal bone health 

20 and prevent the onset of osteoporosis. Yet, close to 

21 30 percent of men and 60 percent of women older 

22 than age 19 do not consume enough calcium, and 

23 more than 90 percent do not consume enough vita24 min D. According to the Dietary Guidelines, dietary 

25 patterns that do not meet recommended consumpVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S549.IS S549

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1 tion amounts for food groups and subgroups which 

2 include sources of calcium and vitamin D, such as 

3 dairy foods, contribute to low intake of these nutri4 ents. 

5 (6) The Dietary Guidelines state that many 

6 products sold as ‘‘milks’’ but made from plants (e.g., 

7 almond, rice, coconut, oat, and hemp ‘‘milks’’) do 

8 not have an overall nutritional content similar to 

9 real milk and that most have significantly less pro10 tein than real milk and are not always fortified with 

11 calcium and vitamin D. The amount of calcium per 

12 calorie is lower for most plant-based alternative milk 

13 products. To obtain the amount of calcium contained 

14 in one cup of nonfat fluid milk from a plant-based 

15 milk alternative, the portion size and calorie intake 

16 must be greater. 

17 (7) Similarly, imitation dairy products, such as 

18 plant-based products derived from rice, nuts, hemp, 

19 coconut, algae, and other foods that imitate milk, 

20 yogurt, and cheese, often do not provide the same 

21 nutrition content as real cheese and yogurt derived 

22 from dairy cows. 

23 (8) Plant-based products labeled as milk are 

24 misleading to consumers. 


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1 (9) The Food and Drug Administration has 

2 regulations that define milk and cream as the ‘‘lac3 teal secretion, practically free from colostrum, ob4 tained by the complete milking of one or more 

5 healthy cows’’ (section 131.110 of title 21, Code of 

6 Federal Regulations). This definition further applies 

7 to milk used to create other dairy products, includ8 ing yogurt and cheese, as specified in sections 131 

9 and 133 of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations. 

10 (10) Given the proliferation of plant-based 

11 products in the marketplace that are mislabeled as 

12 milk despite the standard of identity defined for this 

13 substance, enforcement by the Food and Drug Ad14 ministration against these practices should be im15 proved to avoid misleading consumers. 

16 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

17 No food may be introduced or delivered for introduc18 tion into interstate commerce using a market name for 

19 a dairy product if the food does not meet the criterion 

20 set forth for dairy products under paragraph (z)(2) of sec21 tion 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 

22 (21 U.S.C. 343) (as added by section 4(a)). 


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1 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT OF DEFINITION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 403 of the Federal Food, 

3 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343) is amended by 

4 adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(z)(1) If it uses a market name for a dairy product 

6 described in subparagraph (3) and the food does not meet 

7 the criterion for being a dairy product, as described in 

8 subparagraph (2). 

9 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this paragraph, a food is a dairy 

10 product only if the food is, contains as a primary ingre11 dient, or is derived from, the lacteal secretion, practically 

12 free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of 

13 one or more hooved mammals. 

14 ‘‘(3) A market name for a dairy product described 

15 in this subparagraph means the dairy product terms de16 scribed in parts 131 and 133 of subchapter B of chapter 

17 I of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, and sections 

18 135.110, 135.115, and 135.140 of title 21, Code of Fed19 eral Regulations (or any successor regulations), or any 

20 other term for which the Secretary has promulgated a 

21 standard of identity with respect to a food that is formu22 lated with a dairy product (as described in subparagraph 

23 (2)) as the primary ingredient.’’. 

24 (b) GUIDANCE.— 


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1 (1) NEW GUIDANCE.—The Secretary of Health 

2 and Human Services, acting through the Commis3 sioner of Food and Drugs, shall— 

4 (A) not later than 90 days after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, issue draft guidance 

6 on how enforcement of the amendment made by 

7 subsection (a) will be carried out; and 

8 (B) not later than 180 days after the date 

9 of enactment of this Act, issue final guidance 

10 on such enforcement. 

11 (2) EFFECT ON CERTAIN PREVIOUS GUID12 ANCE.—Effective on the date of enactment of this 

13 Act, any guidance issued by the Secretary of Health 

14 and Human Services, acting through the Commis15 sioner of Food and Drugs, that is not consistent 

16 with paragraph (z) of section 403 of the Federal 

17 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343), as 

18 added by subsection (a), shall have no force or ef19 fect. 

20 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

22 Health and Human Services, acting through the Commis23 sioner of Food and Drugs, shall report to Congress on en24 forcement actions taken under paragraph (z) of section 

25 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 


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1 U.S.C. 343), as amended by this Act, including warnings 

2 issued pursuant to such paragraph and penalties assessed 

3 under section 303 of such Act (21 U.S.C. 333) with re4 spect to such paragraph. If food that is misbranded under 

5 section 403(z) is offered for sale in interstate commerce 

6 at the time of such report, the Commissioner of Food and 

7 Drugs shall include in such report an updated plan for 

8 enforcement with respect to such food. 

Æ 


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