DAIRY PRIDE Act
Bill: H.R.2828 | Sponsor: Rep. Welch, Peter (D-VT)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, milk, and cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday Act or the DAIRY PRIDE Act
This bill prohibits the sale of any food that uses the market name of a dairy product (such as milk, yogurt, or cream cheese) unless the food (1) is the milk of a hooved animal, (2) is derived from such milk, or (3) contains such milk as a primary ingredient.

To require enforcement against misbranded milk alternatives.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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''.

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 Guidelines'') 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 numerous health 
        benefits, including lowering the risk of diabetes, 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 average across 
        the calorie levels dairy foods still contribute about 68 
        percent of calcium, 76 percent of vitamin D, and 31 percent of 
        magnesium.
            (4) Beginning at age nine and persisting throughout every 
        subsequent life-stage, individuals in the United States on 
        average fail to meet the recommended amount of dairy intake for 
        their age group, according to the Dietary Guidelines. The 
        Dietary 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 concerning''. 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 nutrient 
        composition of dairy foods highlights the importance of 
        adequate consumption, finding this to be especially relevant 
        for the intake of calcium and vitamin D throughout an 
        individual's life. The Dietary Guidelines note that calcium and 
        vitamin D are important at any age, that adolescents have an 
        increased 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 than age 19 do not consume enough calcium, and more 
        than 90 percent do not consume enough vitamin D. According to 
        the Dietary Guidelines, dietary patterns that do not meet 
        recommended consumption amounts for food groups and subgroups 
        which include sources of calcium and vitamin D, such as dairy 
        foods, contribute to low intake of these nutrients.
            (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 protein 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, soybeans, hemp, 
        coconut, algae, and other foods that imitate milk, yogurt, and 
        cheese, often do not provide 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 ``lacteal secretion, practically 
        free from colostrum, obtained 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, including 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 Administration against these practices should be 
        improved to avoid misleading consumers.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    No food may be introduced or delivered for introduction 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 section 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 ingredient, 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 described 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 Federal 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 formulated with a dairy product 
(as described in subparagraph (2)) as the primary ingredient.''.
    (b) Guidance.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 
through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, shall--
            (1) not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, issue draft guidance on how enforcement of the 
        amendment made by subsection (a) will be carried out; and
            (2) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, issue final guidance on such enforcement.
    (c) Report to Congress.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, shall report to 
Congress on enforcement actions taken under paragraph (z) of section 
403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343), as 
amended by this Act, including warnings issued pursuant to such 
paragraph and penalties assessed under section 303 of such Act (21 
U.S.C. 333) with respect to such paragraph. If food that is misbranded 
under section 403(z) is offered for sale in interstate commerce at the 
time of such report, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs shall include 
in such report an updated plan for enforcement with respect to such 
food.
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