II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 130 

To require enforcement against misbranded milk alternatives. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 12, 2017 

Ms. BALDWIN 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 

12 to the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans 


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1 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Dietary Guide2 lines’’) published by the Department of Health and 

3 Human Services and the Department of Agriculture. 

4 The Dietary Guidelines state that most Americans 

5 are not meeting recommended intake for the dairy 

6 food group. Consumption of dairy foods provides nu7 merous health benefits, including lowering the risk 

8 of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular dis9 ease, and obesity. 

10 (2) The Dietary Guidelines state that dairy 

11 foods are excellent sources of critical nutrients for 

12 human health, including vitamin D, calcium, and po13 tassium, all of which are under consumed by people 

14 of the United States. When consumed in the 

15 amounts recommended by the Food Patterns of the 

16 Department of Agriculture, on average across the 

17 calorie levels, dairy foods contribute about 67 per18 cent of calcium, 64 percent of vitamin D, and 17 

19 percent of magnesium. 

20 (3) About 30 percent of adolescent boys meet or 

21 exceed the recommended 3 cup equivalents per day, 

22 but less than 10 percent of adolescent females meet 

23 or exceed this recommendation. An age-related de24 cline in dairy intake appears to begin in adolescence 

25 and intakes persist at very low levels among adult 


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1 females across the age distribution. Less than 5 per2 cent of adult females consume the recommended 3 

3 cup equivalents per day. Overall, more than 80 per4 cent of the entire population of the United States 

5 does not meet the daily dairy intake recommenda6 tion. 

7 (4) The Dietary Guidelines state that vitamin 

8 D and potassium amounts vary across plant-based 

9 milk alternatives. The amount of calcium per calorie 

10 is lower for most plant-based alternative milk prod11 ucts. To obtain the amount of calcium contained in 

12 one cup of non-fat fluid milk from a plant-based 

13 milk alternative, the portion size and calorie intake 

14 must be greater. 

15 (5) Imitation dairy products, such as plant16 based products derived from rice, nuts, soybeans, 

17 hemp, coconut, algae, and other foods that imitate 

18 milk, yogurt, and cheese, often do not provide the 

19 same nutrition content as real milk, cheese, and yo20 gurt derived from dairy cows. 

21 (6) Plant-based products labeled as milk are 

22 misleading to consumers. 

23 (7) The Food and Drug Administration has 

24 regulations that define milk and cream as the ‘‘lac25 teal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 Jan 26, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S130.IS S130

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1 tained by the complete milking of one or more 

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

3 Federal Regulations). This definition further applies 

4 to milk used to create other dairy products, includ5 ing yogurt and cheese, as specified in section 131 

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

7 (8) Given the proliferation of plant-based prod8 ucts in the marketplace that are mislabeled as milk 

9 despite the standard of identity defined for this sub10 stance, enforcement by the Food and Drug Adminis11 tration against these practices should be improved to 

12 avoid misleading consumers. 

13 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

14 No food may be introduced or delivered for introduc15 tion into interstate commerce using a market name for 

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

17 set forth for dairy products under paragraph (z)(2) of sec18 tion 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 

19 (21 U.S.C. 343) (as added by section 4(a)). 

20 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT OF DEFINITION. 

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

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

23 adding at the end the following: 

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

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


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

2 subparagraph (2). 

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

4 product only if the food is, contains as a primary ingre5 dient, or is derived from, the lacteal secretion, practically 

6 free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of 

7 one or more hooved mammals. 

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

9 in this subparagraph means the dairy product terms de10 scribed in parts 131 and 133 of subchapter B of chapter 

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

12 135.110, 135.115, and 135.140 of title 21, Code of Fed13 eral Regulations (or any successor regulations), or any 

14 other term for which the Secretary has promulgated a 

15 standard of identity with respect to a food that is formu16 lated with a dairy product (as described in subparagraph 

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

18 (b) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary of Health and 

19 Human Services, acting through the Commissioner of 

20 Food and Drugs, shall— 

21 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of en22 actment of this Act, issue draft guidance on how en23 forcement of the amendment made by subsection (a) 

24 will be carried out; and 


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1 (2) not later than 180 days after the date of 

2 enactment of this Act, issue final guidance on such 

3 enforcement. 

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

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

6 Health and Human Services, acting through the Commis7 sioner of Food and Drugs, shall report to Congress on en8 forcement actions taken under paragraph (z) of section 

9 403 of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 

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

11 issued pursuant to such paragraph and penalties assessed 

12 under section 303 of such Act (21 U.S.C. 333) with re13 spect to such paragraph. If food that is misbranded under 

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

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

16 Drugs shall include in such report an updated plan for 

17 enforcement with respect to such food. 

Æ 


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