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 re-
ferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To require enforcement against misbranded milk alternatives. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Defending Against 
Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, milk, and cheese 
to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday Act’’ or the 
‘‘DAIRY PRIDE Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Dairy products are an important part of a 
healthy diet for both children and adults, according 
to the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans 
(referred to in this section as the ‘‘Dietary Guide-
lines’’) published by the Department of Agriculture 
and the Department of Health and Human Services. 
The Dietary Guidelines state that most Americans 
are not meeting recommended intake for the dairy 
food group. 
(2) Consumption of dairy foods provides numer-
ous health benefits, including lowering the risk of di-
abetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, 
and obesity. 
(3) The Dietary Guidelines state that dairy 
foods are sources of critical nutrients for human 
health, including vitamin D, calcium, and potassium, 
all of which are under consumed by people of the 
United States. Even though average consumption 
falls short of amounts recommended by the Food 
Patterns of the Department of Agriculture, on aver-
age across the calorie levels dairy foods still con-
tribute about 68 percent of calcium, 76 percent of 
vitamin D, and 31 percent of magnesium. 
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(4) Beginning at age nine and persisting 
throughout every subsequent life-stage, individuals 
in the United States on average fail to meet the rec-
ommended amount of dairy intake for their age 
group, according to the Dietary Guidelines. The Die-
tary Guidelines note the gap between recommended 
and current intake of dairy widens throughout life 
stages and find the age-related decreasing intake of 
dairy for youth ages 2–18 to be ‘‘notable and con-
cerning’’. Overall, approximately 90 percent of the 
entire population of the United States does not meet 
the daily dairy intake recommendation. 
(5) The Dietary Guidelines state that the nutri-
ent composition of dairy foods highlights the impor-
tance of adequate consumption, finding this to be es-
pecially relevant for the intake of calcium and vita-
min D throughout an individual’s life. The Dietary 
Guidelines note that calcium and vitamin D are im-
portant at any age, that adolescents have an in-
creased need for these nutrients to support accrual 
of bone mass, and that adults should give particular 
attention to consuming adequate amounts of foods 
with these nutrients to promote optimal bone health 
and prevent the onset of osteoporosis. Yet, close to 
30 percent of men and 60 percent of women older 
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than age 19 do not consume enough calcium, and 
more than 90 percent do not consume enough vita-
min D. According to the Dietary Guidelines, dietary 
patterns that do not meet recommended consump-
tion amounts for food groups and subgroups which 
include sources of calcium and vitamin D, such as 
dairy foods, contribute to low intake of these nutri-
ents. 
(6) The Dietary Guidelines state that many 
products sold as ‘‘milks’’ but made from plants (e.g., 
almond, rice, coconut, oat, and hemp ‘‘milks’’) do 
not have an overall nutritional content similar to 
real milk and that most have significantly less pro-
tein than real milk and are not always fortified with 
calcium and vitamin D. The amount of calcium per 
calorie is lower for most plant-based alternative milk 
products. To obtain the amount of calcium contained 
in one cup of nonfat fluid milk from a plant-based 
milk alternative, the portion size and calorie intake 
must be greater. 
(7) Similarly, imitation dairy products, such as 
plant-based products derived from rice, nuts, soy-
beans, hemp, coconut, algae, and other foods that 
imitate milk, yogurt, and cheese, often do not pro-
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vide the same nutrition content as real cheese and 
yogurt derived from dairy cows. 
(8) Plant-based products labeled as milk are 
misleading to consumers. 
(9) The Food and Drug Administration has 
regulations that define milk and cream as the ‘‘lac-
teal secretion, practically free from colostrum, ob-
tained by the complete milking of one or more 
healthy cows’’ (section 131.110 of title 21, Code of 
Federal Regulations). This definition further applies 
to milk used to create other dairy products, includ-
ing yogurt and cheese, as specified in sections 131 
and 133 of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations. 
(10) Given the proliferation of plant-based 
products in the marketplace that are mislabeled as 
milk despite the standard of identity defined for this 
substance, enforcement by the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration against these practices should be im-
proved to avoid misleading consumers. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 
No food may be introduced or delivered for introduc-
tion into interstate commerce using a market name for 
a dairy product if the food does not meet the criterion 
set forth for dairy products under paragraph (z)(2) of sec-
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tion 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 
(21 U.S.C. 343) (as added by section 4(a)). 
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT OF DEFINITION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 403 of the Federal Food, 
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(z)(1) If it uses a market name for a dairy product 
described in subparagraph (3) and the food does not meet 
the criterion for being a dairy product, as described in 
subparagraph (2). 
‘‘(2) For purposes of this paragraph, a food is a dairy 
product only if the food is, contains as a primary ingre-
dient, or is derived from, the lacteal secretion, practically 
free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of 
one or more hooved mammals. 
‘‘(3) A market name for a dairy product described 
in this subparagraph means the dairy product terms de-
scribed in parts 131 and 133 of subchapter B of chapter 
I of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, and sections 
135.110, 135.115, and 135.140 of title 21, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations (or any successor regulations), or any 
other term for which the Secretary has promulgated a 
standard of identity with respect to a food that is formu-
lated with a dairy product (as described in subparagraph 
(2)) as the primary ingredient.’’. 
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