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NMPF Celebrates Lifting of Tariffs Against U.S. Dairy; Hard Work Remains on Trade

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Milk Producers Federation today celebrated Mexico’s lifting of retaliatory tariffs against U.S. cheese exports. Still, hard work remains for lawmakers and officials to further improve the trade outlook for dairy farmers, with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement yet to be approved and a prolonged trade dispute with China clouding dairy exports.

“Dairy farmers have much to celebrate, with the resumption of normal business with our largest export partner,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “To move forward in boosting exports, Congress needs to pass the USMCA, and administration officials need to resolve the latest impasse in U.S. negotiations with China in a way that’s favorable to producers. Meanwhile, trade negotiations with Japan and other key partners also must move ahead. The time for progress on all fronts is now.”

Mexico is the largest destination for U.S. dairy products, with Mexico purchasing $1.4 billion last year. Mexico’s retaliatory exports against dairy resulted from the U.S. imposition of tariffs against Mexican metals last year. After the three nations announced the end of the metal tariffs on Friday, the retaliatory tariffs were lifted shortly thereafter. Canada, the second-largest destination, also lifted its retaliatory tariffs against U.S. yogurt.

The USMCA, concluded last fall but still not voted on in Congress, would restore trade certainty with our largest export market and increase access to Canada’s market while making key changes to Canada’s trade-distorting dairy-pricing policies. Meanwhile, trade conflict with China, the third-biggest buyer of U.S. dairy, intensified last week. The escalation of trade tensions has left tariffs on U.S. dairy exporters in place, and China recently increased tariffs on U.S. lactose and infant formula, among other goods, showing continued trade damage to U.S. farmers.

The USDA is currently considering assistance to farmers harmed by trade-related actions. NMPF continues to advocate that the USDA develop a robust dairy package that reflects the damages producers have faced.

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. NMPF’s member cooperatives produce the majority of U.S. milk, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

Dairy Industry Cheers Rollback of Tariffs That Bolsters USMCA Chances

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

ARLINGTON, VA – U.S. dairy officials today congratulated the governments of the United States, Mexico and Canada for reaching an agreement to roll back metal tariffs that have soured U.S.-Mexico cheese trade and slowed passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The United States agreed to end Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from its North American neighbors. In return, U.S. dairy officials expect that Mexico will drop their retaliatory tariffs against U.S. dairy products – including duties as high as 25 percent on U.S. cheese exports to Mexico.

“This is an important development for the U.S. dairy industry, and we applaud the hard work of negotiators from all three countries that made it possible as well as the numerous members of Congress that have insisted upon the need to resolve the Section 232 metal tariffs dispute with our North American partners,” said Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “If Mexico lifts its tariffs on U.S. dairy in response, it would be a welcome return to normalcy with our number one export market. It would also build vital momentum for swiftly advancing USMCA towards passage.”

“America’s struggling dairy farmers are in need of some good news, and today’s announcement certainly helps,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation. “This paves the way for Mexico to drop retaliatory tariffs that have harmed dairy, and for Congress to take its next step to help our producers – to vote on USMCA and quickly ratify it.”

Mexico is, by far, America’s biggest dairy customer, with $1.4 billion in sales last year. U.S. products accounted for 80 percent of Mexican dairy imports by value in 2018, but that dominant market share was being jeopardized by the retaliatory tariffs.

The tariffs were likewise making it politically difficult for Congress to pass USMCA – a pact that modernizes the North American Free Trade Agreement, maintains U.S. dairy sales into Mexico, expands dairy market access in Canada, and reforms many nontariff barriers.

Vilsack and Mulhern also stressed the importance of finding similar common ground with China, which also slapped retaliatory tariffs on U.S. dairy exporters in 2018 and recently upped the ante by hiking them further on some products. As a result of last year’s move by China, U.S. exports to that fast-growing dairy market fell by more than 40 percent in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same period last year. NMPF and USDEC have consistently advocated the urgency of resolving both the 232 and China disputes to allow our exporters to compete effectively in those markets.

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The U.S. Dairy Export Council is a non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers, proprietary processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers and export traders. Its mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and assist the U.S. industry to increase its global dairy ingredient sales and exports of U.S. dairy products. USDEC accomplishes this through programs in market development that build global demand for U.S. dairy products, resolve market access barriers and advance industry trade policy goals. USDEC is supported by staff across the United States and overseas in Mexico, South America, Asia, Middle East and Europe. The U.S. Dairy Export Council prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, disability, national origin, race, color, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, political beliefs, marital status, military status, and arrest or conviction record. www.usdec.org.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. NMPF’s member cooperatives produce the majority of U.S. milk, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

American Butter Institute: ‘Fake’ Butter is Mislabeled

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

By: Carrie Muehling – ORIGINAL POST

More plant-based products are entering the marketplace labeled as butter, and the dairy industry wants to put a stop to that practice. NMPF Executive Vice President and American Butter Institute Executive Director Tom Balmer said these products are mislabeled based on the standard of identity that exists for butter.

“The butter standard of identity, which is the only federal food standard established by an act of Congress, and it’s the oldest food standard that’s still in effect in the United States, requires that the product be made from cream and be not less than 80 percent milk fat in the finished product,” said Balmer.

He added that butter has a very simple ingredient list. “Virtually no product has as clean a label as butter, in the case of salted butter being cream and salt – two ingredients,” he said.

Balmer attributes the increase in these types of products coming into the marketplace to a decline in sales of margarine and vegetable spreads, while per capita consumption of butter continues to increase. He said the dairy industry has no problem with these products, but disagrees with labeling them as butter instead of margarine or some other kind of spread.

NMPF Supports USTR Proposal to Target EU Dairy in Airbus Retaliation

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office (USTR) should slap tariffs on dairy shipments from Europe in response to the $11 billion in damage EU Airbus subsidies caused the United States, National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Jim Mulhern said today in testimony before a USTR panel.

The World Trade Organization recently found that Europe’s large civil aircraft subsidies were against international trade rules and permitted the United States to levy duties on EU products until Europe comes into compliance.

“We have a unique opportunity to make a big dent in the dairy market access gap we face with Europe. Including EU cheeses, yogurt, and butter on this list, as USTR has proposed, is entirely warranted, and we would encourage you to add additional EU dairy-related tariff lines,” Mulhern said. Doing so “would bring increased attention to the gross inequities that currently define our dairy trading relationship,” he said.

The United States is currently running a $1.6 billion dairy trade deficit with Europe. A complex web of EU tariffs and nontariff obstacles are to blame, Mulhern said.

“Simply put, we are largely being blocked from the EU market despite being a trusted and proven dairy supplier to the rest of the world,” he said, singling out Europe’s use of Geographic Indication requirements that target common products carrying geographic names like parmesan, feta, and muenster cheeses. Europe blocks sales of these everyday products from the United States and is aggressively pressuring other countries to do the same.

“It is essential that America deliver a clear and powerful message across the pond,” Mulhern said. “Subsidies and barriers that handicap U.S. businesses in the global marketplace will not be tolerated. And the days of trade deficits induced by unfair trade practices are coming to an end.”

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The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), based in Arlington, VA, develops and carries out policies that advance dairy producers and the cooperatives they own. NMPF’s member cooperatives produce the majority of U.S. milk, making NMPF the voice of dairy producers on Capitol Hill and with government agencies. For more, visit www.nmpf.org.

Ensuring Milk’s Recent History Doesn’t Repeat Itself

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

I’m reminded of this saying, usually attributed to Mark Twain, as we look at dairy’s price outlook over the next few months. For the first time since before the retaliatory trade tariffs hit last summer and ruined a promising market outlook, real signs of a milk-price recovery have once again been apparent, just as an improved USDA safety net takes effect to provide at least some relief to struggling producers.

But just like a year ago, trade turmoil – in this case, new and higher tariffs against China – now clouds the market outlook. At NMPF we are doing what we can to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself, and that even if it rhymes, this time the song needs a better melody.

Now in our fifth year of low prices and our third year of trade wounds, we’re hopeful that the market signals — that the worst may be over and that better days may lie ahead – are not derailed by a trade war train wreck.

For some of the positive, hopeful signs:

  • After years of rising cow numbers dating to 2011, herd sizes have dropped every month since last July, with March’s decline the biggest of the entire period. The steady decline in cow numbers in March finally pushed milk production to levels lower than a year earlier, reducing the supply overhang that has depressed prices.
  • Futures markets have noticed the tightening. Forecasts for milk prices this year as reflected in futures show a rise of $1.80 per hundredweight over last year, stabilizing around $18, and have been rising by the week.
  • The higher milk prices, combined with steady feed costs, have improved producer margins.
  • And finally, sustained improvement in world prices for butter, skim-milk powder and cheese are in turn helping lift domestic prices, showing how global demand can benefit U.S. dairy, despite the trade-policy and export challenges we currently face.

These developments show a sector experiencing an improving outlook, perhaps putting us back on the path we appeared to be on in 2018, when retaliatory tariffs against dairy from Mexico and China disrupted exports to two of our largest markets. The question before us is whether the economic fundamentals today are strong enough to maintain the nascent recovery.

Until trade turmoil is resolved, the battle to open and expand new markets — our best hope for real, sustainable recovery — will be fought with one hand tied behind our back. And the previous half-decade has taken such a toll on farmer finances that, over the next few months, many dairies will likely continue to struggle. Help from the market is critically important – but it’s inevitable that the economic pain on the farm won’t end overnight.

That’s why there is significant work to do to help producers weather the dairy crisis over the next few weeks and months.

The immediate task is to encourage and guide producers through signup for new dairy programs, most importantly the new Dairy Margin Coverage program. At a congressional hearing on dairy’s struggles convened April 30, Minnesota farmer Sadie Frericks told lawmakers she’d be signing up for five years of coverage at the maximum, $9.50 per hundredweight level. “Dairy farming requires smart business decisions. This was an easy one,” she said after the hearing.

Many other farmers, especially small and medium-sized producers, need to make the same choice as Sadie’s family. We will be ready to help producers understand their full options, which includes not only DMC but other risk-management tools, as well as ways to gain premium discounts and allocate refunds for previous Margin Protection Program premiums provided for under the farm bill passed last year. Please watch our website, nmpf.org, in coming weeks for more information and resources as we head toward the DMC signup date in mid-June.

At the same time, we can’t accept gridlock in Washington’s ability to improve trade policy. A renewed tariff spat with China cannot be an end in itself – it must lead quickly to a bilateral agreement that lowers tensions and establishes more and better market access. The Administration must lift the steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and the Congress must ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement this year. We also need quick resolution to trade discussions with Japan so that U.S. dairy interests are not further punished by tariffs much higher than those negotiated by our European and Oceania competitors. These steps are necessary to provide some measure of certainty and new opportunities for dairy producers, something badly needed after the economic turmoil of recent years.

These are building blocks for longer-term recovery that need to be laid down now, when the urgency of dairy’s hard times is still fresh in the public’s mind and concern about them isn’t limited to the dairy sector itself.

If dairy truly is getting back on its feet – and we hope this spring’s positive signs show it’s about to happen, despite deeply worrisome trade tensions – then the next step will be to gain traction and move forward, because we don’t want history to repeat itself.

A little rhythm would be nice, but we’re ready to be done with the blues.

VIEW BIO

Dairy Native Theresa Sweeney Joins NMPF Communications Staff

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney
Theresa Sweeney

NMPF is pleased to announce that Theresa Sweeney has joined the staff as Communications Manager, working with NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga.

Sweeney arrives from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, where she served as Special Assistant. In her role there, she worked on issues including rural development, forestry, and labor. She was a key contributor to several of the Department’s nonregulatory initiatives and the agency’s internal and external communications.

A native of California’s Central Valley, Theresa grew up on her family’s 300-cow dairy farm before moving to New York to study Government and Animal Science at Cornell University. “Theresa’s unique skill-set, dairy experience and educational background makes her a phenomenal fit at NMPF, and we’re all excited about what she will contribute to this organization,” Bjerga said.

FARM V4 Public Comment Period Summarized

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The FARM Animal Care Program welcomed public comments from all dairy industry stakeholders from the middle of February through the end of March. FARM received over 370 comments providing feedback on the draft standards that the FARM Technical Writing Group and National Milk Producers Federation Animal Health and Well-Being Committee have prepped for the fourth iteration of FARM Animal Care.

Of the total comments, 41.7% were received from cooperatives and processors, 25.5% came in directly from producers, and 15.6% were provided from veterinarians. Other industry stakeholders represented the remaining 17.2%.

The primary areas of the comments focused on: veterinarian involvement, pain management for disbudding procedures, antibiotic stewardship, and animal care training.

The Technical Writing Group and the NMPF Animal Health and Well-Being Committees is meeting to review comments and determine position statements related to the public submissions. Once those are summarized, staff will integrate that feedback into the draft standards that will then be presented to the National Milk Producers Federation Board of Directors for approval in June.

Version 4.0 of FARM Animal Care Program implementation will begin January 1.

With $277 Million at Stake for Dairy, USMCA Progresses

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) cleared an important procedural step in recent weeks, moving it one step closer to possible ratification, as the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) released an economic impact study touting the pact’s financial benefits for the U.S. The 375-page ITC report found that, if fully implemented and enforced, USMCA would add more than $68 billion to the U.S. economy and 176,000 U.S. jobs by its sixth year. For dairy, ITC projected a positive impact of $277 million, with most gains coming from increased tariff-rate quota access to Canada.

USMCA’s importance for dairy extends well beyond the market access improvements with Canada that the ITC accounted for, as NMPF noted in our release welcoming the publication of the report. USMCA solidifies essential trading channels with Mexico – where the U.S. shipped $1.4 billion in dairy products last year – and tears down the controversial Class-7 milk pricing scheme, instituting new disciplines on Canadian dairy policies to keep their trade-distorting capacity in check. Moreover, the deal ushers in new rules on GIs and SPS issues to reduce the prospect of unjustified barriers to trade cropping up.

USTR touted those improvements in an agriculture-focused fact sheet released in early May that prominently featured dairy’s gains. The document’s heavy dairy focus illustrated the outsized benefits the agreement holds for it compared to other farm sectors, a result of NMPF’s strong investment in using USMCA as a vehicle for pursuing further upgrades to the existing NAFTA deal that’s boosted exports to Mexico.

“It’s important to keep the full picture in mind of what’s at stake when examining USMCA’s benefit to the economy,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of National Milk Producers Federation. USDA recently reported that the U.S. lost more than seven dairy farms a day in 2018 due to poor economic conditions. NMPF is pushing back against this trend on multiple fronts. USMCA does that that by safeguarding our largest export market and instituting valuable new improvements to dairy trade in North America.

To continue to advocate for passing USMCA – and also the end of the Section 232 tariffs that curb U.S. cheese exports to Mexico – NMPF and its members participated in events taking place with members of Congress in the Midwest over last month’s Congressional recess. That included an event hosted by NMPF member Associated Milk Producers Inc. for Representative Jim Hagedorn (R-MN) from Minnesota and a roundtable with Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) attended by Mulhern and Jeff Lyon, general manager of FarmFirst, an NMPF member cooperative.

Given the importance of NAFTA/USMCA to dairy and the urgent need to lift Mexican retaliatory tariffs levied in response to U.S. metal tariffs, NMPF will work closely with member co-ops and state dairy associations nationwide to build support for action by the government on both fronts.

Farm Groups Unite to Demand Level Playing Field in Japan

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Expanded agricultural market access to Japan is vital for America’s struggling rural economy, and that access needs to be on par with what’s already enjoyed by U.S. competitors. That was the message delivered by NMPF, many of its members and dozens of other farm and food organizations among the nearly 90 signatories of a letter sent last month to the U.S. Trade Representative. The letter detailed the need for a swift and strong U.S.-Japan trade deal that addresses the needs of American farmers and food makers.

“The U.S. food and agriculture industry is increasingly disadvantaged by competing regional and bilateral agreements with Japan that have already been implemented, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the European Union-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EU-Japan EPA),” the groups, which included the American Farm Bureau Federation, the International Dairy Foods Association, and other agricultural leaders said in their letter to USTR.

Japan recently decreased tariffs on agricultural imports from the European Union and CPTPP member countries, which, the group warned, is stealing markets once enjoyed by American exporters.

NMPF has worked with others in agriculture over the past two years for the launch of trade negotiations with Japan as other competitors have begun to enjoy the fruits of expanded market access not shared by the U.S. The administration finally took the necessary step of announcing talks late last year, formally starting negotiations last month. NMPF is focused on touting the urgent need for a deal with Japan that helps U.S. dairy exporters maintain and grow their competitiveness in this dairy-hungry market.

The United States exported $270 million in dairy goods to Japan in 2018, making it the fifth-largest buyer of U.S. products. A USDEC study earlier this year showed that America could double its share of the Japanese market over the next 10 years if given appropriate market access. Without positive action from trade officials, the USDEC study forecast that dairy exports to Japan will fall 20 percent over the next 5 years, as Europe, Australia, and New Zealand increase their dominance in the market, given the benefits their own trade treaties with Japan provide them.

Because of that risk, NMPF will continue to work with the Trump Administration and others in food and agriculture to drive towards robust results for dairy in the ongoing U.S.-Japan trade negotiations. A U.S. trade agreement with Japan is needed quickly, and it must include market access provisions at least equal to the terms of the CPTPP and the EU-Japan EPA, building on those precedents where possible, the letter urges.

CWT-assisted Dairy Product Export Sales Greatly Exceed U.S. Milk Production Increase

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

While U.S. milk production increased 103 million pounds in the first three months of 2019 according to the USDA, the Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) export assistance program for member cooperatives have captured sales contracts that will move overseas five times that amount in milk equivalent this year, proving again the self-help program’s worth to U.S. dairy farmers.

In April, CWT members secured 52 contracts to sell 1.2 million pounds of American-type and Swiss cheese, 1.2 million pounds of butter, 1.3 million pounds of whole milk powder, and 1.9 milk pounds of cream cheese. These products are going to customers in Asia, Central and South America, and the Middle East, and will be shipped April through October 2019.

These sales bring the total 2019 CWT-assisted dairy product exports to 26.6 million pounds of cheese, 4 million pounds of butter, 23.4 million pounds of whole milk powder, and 1.9 million pounds of cream cheese. These transactions will move the equivalent of 520.8 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis overseas, all in 2019.

2019 will be pivotal for dairy farmers, with higher milk prices a necessity following the challenges of the past half-decade. Dairy farmers and dairy cooperatives now and in the years ahead will increasingly rely on a thriving export market for growth and viability. CWT provides a means to move domestic dairy products to overseas markets by helping to overcome certain disadvantages such as the domestic/global price gap and shipping costs.

The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT will pay export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.

All cooperatives and dairy farmers are encouraged to add their support to this important program. Membership forms are available here.

NMPF Pleased With NCIMS Results

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The 2019 National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments meeting that ran from April 26-May 1 in St. Louis was an overall win for U.S. dairy producers, as NMPF staff, members and state and federal agencies successfully debated and secured modifications that help the industry.

The widely attended biennial conference included more than 400 federal, state and industry leaders. NMPF had submitted several proposals, three of which were considered “must-pass”:

  • A proposal for streamlining the information required on a shipping statement for milk and milk products;
  • A proposal on antibiotic testing that provides clarity on confirmation testing for antibiotic residues;
  • And a proposal recognizing the importance of drug residue testing by making the ad-hoc committee on drug residue testing a permanent full standing committee.

Through collaboration with our members, the processing industry and our state and federal partners, all three proposals successfully made it through the complex NCIMS process.

NMPF also played a key role in advancing proposals from others that we felt warranted approval. NMPF helped craft modifications to several proposals that would have failed without the changes.

For example, an initiative to address how Grade “A” dairy plants that produce Grade “A” and non-Grade “A” products are to be inspected under the authorities of the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was modified with NMPF’s help.

The changes resolved conflicts among the states and the FDA that, before the conference, were very much in conflict as to how inspections were to be conducted. The states, industry and FDA came to a solution that will maximize state and federal resources and create greater efficiencies while maintaining milk safety. FDA and an NCIMS committee will develop and implement a pilot to ensure these inspections are done sensibly.

The conference began on Friday, April 26th with committee discussions. About half of the 74 submitted proposals were assigned to a committee for an initial review. During the committee review a proposal can be passed, rejected or modified. A proposal that passes as submitted or modified then goes to a Council for further review. Councils then have the option to approve, reject or modify proposals prior to passing them on to the state delegates, where again the proposals could be accepted, rejected or modified.

NMPF will issue a special edition Regulatory Register which will cover conference proceedings and outcomes in more detail.

Fake-Dairy Drumbeat Continues as NMPF Calls Out Research, Balmer Cites Imposters

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF and its allies are continuing their steady drumbeat against dairy imposters while President Donald Trump considers a replacement for departed FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, working to ensure that the fake-dairy issue that gained widespread public attention in 2018 stays on the radar of the next agency chief.

In early May, the organization spoke against shoddy research undertook by the Plant Based Foods Association and the research firm it hired to do an incomplete and poorly executed analysis of comments in the FDA docket looking at nutritional confusion in plant-based versus dairy beverages that closed in January.

As has been the case throughout the current labeling debate, the fake-milk study mischaracterized what FDA is considering, trying to turn a serious discussion of consumer transparency and nutritional inferiority into a red-herring debate over whether consumers think almonds are a dairy product.

“None of the fake foods stealing dairy terms contain the same nutrition as the milk or dairy product they attempt to imitate,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation. “The vegan and animal rights activists who were encouraged by our opponents in this debate to flood the docket with comments understand that these fake products don’t contain milk. But that’s never been the issue. Research clearly shows that consumers don’t understand the nutritional differences between real, natural dairy products and the inferior, imitation products masquerading as milk.”

The rising tide of fake dairy was also called out by NMPF Executive Vice President Tom Balmer, who in his capacity as executive director of the American Butter Institute, spoke on the rise of misbranded products at that organization’s annual meeting in Chicago.

Balmer pointed that for generations, plant-based butter imitations have been marketed under a federal standard of identity as margarine or under the non-standardized term “vegetable oil spread.” Now, in the face of declining margarine and spread sales, companies are seeking to capitalize on butter’s resurgent popularity by misappropriating the term “butter” and applying it to products that clearly do not meet butter’s federal standard of identity.

This practice damages the integrity of food standards, Balmer said, and misleads consumers who may believe they’re buying an equivalent to butter when, in fact, no such quality standard is being met.

“Just because consumers are rejecting plant-based margarines and spreads, companies can’t turn around and violate federal law by slapping the term ‘butter’ on a product label and pretend it’s worthy of a dairy term,” Balmer said. “A falsely labeled product is a misbranded product, and misbranded products don’t belong on grocery shelves. The proliferation of these products is eroding the integrity of the marketplace, and the FDA needs to stop it before its own rules become meaningless.”

ABI filed a lengthy complaint to the FDA in September calling out imitators. NMPF filed a citizen petition with the agency in February, outlining a roadmap toward a constructive resolution of the problem of mislabeled, fake dairy products. That petition may be accessed here.