I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1769 

To require enforcement against misbranded milk alternatives. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2019 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. GROTHMAN, 

Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. DUFFY, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. KIND, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. MARSHALL, 

Mr. REED, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. BRINDISI, Mr. 

GIBBS, Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania, Mr. TONKO, Mr. COLLINS of New 

York, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. LONG, Mr. MOOLENAAR, 

Mr. SMUCKER, Mr. NEWHOUSE, and Mr. DELGADO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

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’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 1769 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds as follows: 

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

4 healthy diet for both children and adults, according 

5 to the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans 

6 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Dietary Guide7 lines’’) published by the Department of Health and 

8 Human Services and the Department of Agriculture. 

9 The Dietary Guidelines state that most Americans 

10 are not meeting recommended intake for the dairy 

11 food group. Consumption of dairy foods provides nu12 merous health benefits, including lowering the risk 

13 of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular dis14 ease, and obesity. 

15 (2) The Dietary Guidelines state that dairy 

16 foods are excellent sources of critical nutrients for 

17 human health, including vitamin D, calcium, and po18 tassium, all of which are under consumed by people 

19 of the United States. When consumed in the 

20 amounts recommended by the Food Patterns of the 

21 Department of Agriculture, on average across the 

22 calorie levels, dairy foods contribute about 67 per23 cent of calcium, 64 percent of vitamin D, and 17 

24 percent of magnesium. 

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

26 exceed the recommended 3-cup equivalents per day, 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 1769 IH

1 but less than 10 percent of adolescent females meet 

2 or exceed this recommendation. An age-related de3 cline in dairy intake appears to begin in adolescence 

4 and intakes persist at very low levels among adult 

5 females across the age distribution. Less than 5 per6 cent of adult females consume the recommended 3- 

7 cup equivalents per day. Overall, more than 80 per8 cent of the entire population of the United States 

9 does not meet the daily dairy intake recommenda10 tion. 

11 (4) The Dietary Guidelines state that vitamin 

12 D and potassium amounts vary across plant-based 

13 milk alternatives. The amount of calcium per calorie 

14 is lower for most plant-based alternative milk prod15 ucts. To obtain the amount of calcium contained in 

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

17 milk alternative, the portion size and calorie intake 

18 must be greater. 

19 (5) Imitation dairy products, such as plant20 based products derived from rice, nuts, soybeans, 

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

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

23 same nutrition content as real milk, cheese, and yo24 gurt derived from dairy cows. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 1769 IH

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

2 misleading to consumers. 

3 (7) The Food and Drug Administration has 

4 regulations that define milk and cream as the ‘‘lac5 teal secretion, practically free from colostrum, ob6 tained by the complete milking of one or more 

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

8 Federal Regulations). This definition further applies 

9 to milk used to create other dairy products, includ10 ing yogurt and cheese, as specified in sections 131 

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

12 (8) Given the proliferation of plant-based prod13 ucts in the marketplace that are mislabeled as milk 

14 despite the standard of identity defined for this sub15 stance, enforcement by the Food and Drug Adminis16 tration against these practices should be improved to 

17 avoid misleading consumers. 

18 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

19 No food may be introduced or delivered for introduc20 tion into interstate commerce using a market name for 

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

22 set forth for dairy products under paragraph (z)(2) of sec23 tion 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 

24 (21 U.S.C. 343) (as added by section 4(a)). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 1769 IH

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.—The Secretary of Health and 

25 Human Services, acting through the Commissioner of 

26 Food and Drugs, shall— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 1769 IH

1 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of en2 actment of this Act, issue draft guidance on how en3 forcement of the amendment made by subsection (a) 

4 will be carried out; and 

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

6 enactment of this Act, issue final guidance on such 

7 enforcement. 

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

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

10 Health and Human Services, acting through the Commis11 sioner of Food and Drugs, shall report to Congress on en12 forcement actions taken under paragraph (z) of section 

13 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 

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

15 issued pursuant to such paragraph and penalties assessed 

16 under section 303 of such Act (21 U.S.C. 333) with re17 spect to such paragraph. If food that is misbranded under 

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

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

20 Drugs shall include in such report an updated plan for 

21 enforcement with respect to such food. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS