I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 778 

To require enforcement against misbranded milk alternatives. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2017 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. DUFFY, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. 

VALADAO, and Ms. DELBENE) 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’’. 

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 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans 

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

4 Human Services and the Department of Agriculture. 

5 The Dietary Guidelines state that most Americans 

6 are not meeting recommended intake for the dairy 

7 food group. Consumption of dairy foods provides nu8 merous health benefits, including lowering the risk 

9 of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular dis10 ease, and obesity. 

11 (2) The Dietary Guidelines state that dairy 

12 foods are excellent sources of critical nutrients for 

13 human health, including vitamin D, calcium, and po14 tassium, all of which are under consumed by people 

15 of the United States. When consumed in the 

16 amounts recommended by the Food Patterns of the 

17 Department of Agriculture, on average across the 

18 calorie levels, dairy foods contribute about 67 per19 cent of calcium, 64 percent of vitamin D, and 17 

20 percent of magnesium. 

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

22 exceed the recommended 3-cup equivalents per day, 

23 but less than 10 percent of adolescent females meet 

24 or exceed this recommendation. An age-related de25 cline in dairy intake appears to begin in adolescence 

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1 and intakes persist at very low levels among adult 

2 females across the age distribution. Less than 5 per3 cent of adult females consume the recommended 3- 

4 cup equivalents per day. Overall, more than 80 per5 cent of the entire population of the United States 

6 does not meet the daily dairy intake recommenda7 tion. 

8 (4) The Dietary Guidelines state that vitamin 

9 D and potassium amounts vary across plant-based 

10 milk alternatives. The amount of calcium per calorie 

11 is lower for most plant-based alternative milk prod12 ucts. To obtain the amount of calcium contained in 

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

14 milk alternative, the portion size and calorie intake 

15 must be greater. 

16 (5) Imitation dairy products, such as plant17 based products derived from rice, nuts, soybeans, 

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

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

20 same nutrition content as real milk, cheese, and yo21 gurt derived from dairy cows. 

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

23 misleading to consumers. 

24 (7) The Food and Drug Administration has 

25 regulations that define milk and cream as the ‘‘lacmstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

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1 teal secretion, practically free from colostrum, ob2 tained by the complete milking of one or more 

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

4 Federal Regulations). This definition further applies 

5 to milk used to create other dairy products, includ6 ing yogurt and cheese, as specified in sections 131 

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

8 (8) Given the proliferation of plant-based prod9 ucts in the marketplace that are mislabeled as milk 

10 despite the standard of identity defined for this sub11 stance, enforcement by the Food and Drug Adminis12 tration against these practices should be improved to 

13 avoid misleading consumers. 

14 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

15 No food may be introduced or delivered for introduc16 tion into interstate commerce using a market name for 

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

18 set forth for dairy products under paragraph (z)(2) of sec19 tion 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 

20 (21 U.S.C. 343) (as added by section 4(a)). 

21 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT OF DEFINITION. 

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

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

24 adding at the end the following: 

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

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

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

4 subparagraph (2). 

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

6 product only if the food is, contains as a primary ingre7 dient, or is derived from, the lacteal secretion, practically 

8 free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of 

9 one or more hooved mammals. 

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

11 in this subparagraph means the dairy product terms de12 scribed in parts 131 and 133 of subchapter B of chapter 

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

14 135.110, 135.115, and 135.140 of title 21, Code of Fed15 eral Regulations (or any successor regulations), or any 

16 other term for which the Secretary has promulgated a 

17 standard of identity with respect to a food that is formu18 lated with a dairy product (as described in subparagraph 

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

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

21 Human Services, acting through the Commissioner of 

22 Food and Drugs, shall— 

23 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of en24 actment of this Act, issue draft guidance on how enmstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

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1 forcement of the amendment made by subsection (a) 

2 will be carried out; and 

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

4 enactment of this Act, issue final guidance on such 

5 enforcement. 

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

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

8 Health and Human Services, acting through the Commis9 sioner of Food and Drugs, shall report to Congress on en10 forcement actions taken under paragraph (z) of section 

11 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 

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

13 issued pursuant to such paragraph and penalties assessed 

14 under section 303 of such Act (21 U.S.C. 333) with re15 spect to such paragraph. If food that is misbranded under 

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

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

18 Drugs shall include in such report an updated plan for 

19 enforcement with respect to such food. 

Æ 

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