I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2828 

To require enforcement against misbranded milk alternatives. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2021 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Ms. 

KUSTER, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New 

York, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. TONKO, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. 

GALLAGHER, Mr. KIND, Mr. STEUBE, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. HAGEDORN, Mr. 

PAPPAS, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. DELGADO, Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. COURTNEY, 

Mr. KELLER, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. 

HAYES, Mr. REED, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Mr. FULCHER, Mr. MEUSER, Ms. 

STEFANIK, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. UPTON, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, 

Mr. LONG, and Mr. BAIRD) 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 the 

7 ‘‘DAIRY PRIDE Act’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2828 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 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans 

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

8 and the Department of Health and Human Services. 

9 The Dietary Guidelines state that most Americans 

10 are not meeting recommended intake for the dairy 

11 food group. 

12 (2) Consumption of dairy foods provides numer13 ous health benefits, including lowering the risk of di14 abetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, 

15 and obesity. 

16 (3) The Dietary Guidelines state that dairy 

17 foods are sources of critical nutrients for human 

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

19 all of which are under consumed by people of the 

20 United States. Even though average consumption 

21 falls short of amounts recommended by the Food 

22 Patterns of the Department of Agriculture, on aver23 age across the calorie levels dairy foods still con24 tribute about 68 percent of calcium, 76 percent of 

25 vitamin D, and 31 percent of magnesium. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2828 IH

1 (4) Beginning at age nine and persisting 

2 throughout every subsequent life-stage, individuals 

3 in the United States on average fail to meet the rec4 ommended amount of dairy intake for their age 

5 group, according to the Dietary Guidelines. The Die6 tary Guidelines note the gap between recommended 

7 and current intake of dairy widens throughout life 

8 stages and find the age-related decreasing intake of 

9 dairy for youth ages 2–18 to be ‘‘notable and con10 cerning’’. Overall, approximately 90 percent of the 

11 entire population of the United States does not meet 

12 the daily dairy intake recommendation. 

13 (5) The Dietary Guidelines state that the nutri14 ent composition of dairy foods highlights the impor15 tance of adequate consumption, finding this to be es16 pecially relevant for the intake of calcium and vita17 min D throughout an individual’s life. The Dietary 

18 Guidelines note that calcium and vitamin D are im19 portant at any age, that adolescents have an in20 creased need for these nutrients to support accrual 

21 of bone mass, and that adults should give particular 

22 attention to consuming adequate amounts of foods 

23 with these nutrients to promote optimal bone health 

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

25 30 percent of men and 60 percent of women older 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2828 IH

1 than age 19 do not consume enough calcium, and 

2 more than 90 percent do not consume enough vita3 min D. According to the Dietary Guidelines, dietary 

4 patterns that do not meet recommended consump5 tion amounts for food groups and subgroups which 

6 include sources of calcium and vitamin D, such as 

7 dairy foods, contribute to low intake of these nutri8 ents. 

9 (6) The Dietary Guidelines state that many 

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

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

12 not have an overall nutritional content similar to 

13 real milk and that most have significantly less pro14 tein than real milk and are not always fortified with 

15 calcium and vitamin D. The amount of calcium per 

16 calorie is lower for most plant-based alternative milk 

17 products. To obtain the amount of calcium contained 

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

19 milk alternative, the portion size and calorie intake 

20 must be greater. 

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

22 plant-based products derived from rice, nuts, soy23 beans, hemp, coconut, algae, and other foods that 

24 imitate milk, yogurt, and cheese, often do not proVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:21 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2828 IH

1 vide the same nutrition content as real cheese and 

2 yogurt derived from dairy cows. 

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

4 misleading to consumers. 

5 (9) The Food and Drug Administration has 

6 regulations that define milk and cream as the ‘‘lac7 teal secretion, practically free from colostrum, ob8 tained by the complete milking of one or more 

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

10 Federal Regulations). This definition further applies 

11 to milk used to create other dairy products, includ12 ing yogurt and cheese, as specified in sections 131 

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

14 (10) Given the proliferation of plant-based 

15 products in the marketplace that are mislabeled as 

16 milk despite the standard of identity defined for this 

17 substance, enforcement by the Food and Drug Ad18 ministration against these practices should be im19 proved to avoid misleading consumers. 

20 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

21 No food may be introduced or delivered for introduc22 tion into interstate commerce using a market name for 

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

24 set forth for dairy products under paragraph (z)(2) of secVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:21 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2828.IH H2828

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2828 IH

1 tion 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 

2 (21 U.S.C. 343) (as added by section 4(a)). 

3 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT OF DEFINITION. 

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

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

6 adding at the end the following: 

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

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

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

10 subparagraph (2). 

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

12 product only if the food is, contains as a primary ingre13 dient, or is derived from, the lacteal secretion, practically 

14 free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of 

15 one or more hooved mammals. 

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

17 in this subparagraph means the dairy product terms de18 scribed in parts 131 and 133 of subchapter B of chapter 

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

20 135.110, 135.115, and 135.140 of title 21, Code of Fed21 eral Regulations (or any successor regulations), or any 

22 other term for which the Secretary has promulgated a 

23 standard of identity with respect to a food that is formu24 lated with a dairy product (as described in subparagraph 

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


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2828 IH

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

2 Human Services, acting through the Commissioner of 

3 Food and Drugs, shall— 

4 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of en5 actment of this Act, issue draft guidance on how en6 forcement of the amendment made by subsection (a) 

7 will be carried out; and 

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

9 enactment of this Act, issue final guidance on such 

10 enforcement. 

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

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

13 Health and Human Services, acting through the Commis14 sioner of Food and Drugs, shall report to Congress on en15 forcement actions taken under paragraph (z) of section 

16 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 

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

18 issued pursuant to such paragraph and penalties assessed 

19 under section 303 of such Act (21 U.S.C. 333) with re20 spect to such paragraph. If food that is misbranded under 

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

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

23 Drugs shall include in such report an updated plan for 

24 enforcement with respect to such food. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS