
“An almond doesn’t lactate:” FDA to crack down on use of the word “milk” - rbanffy
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/07/an-almond-doesnt-lactate-fda-to-crack-down-on-use-of-the-word-milk/
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eindiran
I double checked the URL to make sure I wasn't walking face-first into Poe's
Law. As funny as that quote is, I can't think of anything that is a more
pointless use of the FDA's time.

Almond milk isn't even a potentially confusing idea anymore; everyone is aware
of what it is (enough that it is a well-accepted term) and no one is going to
buy it thinking it comes from a cow. In fact, it _not_ being a dairy product
is what drives it's consumption, so it is not in the interest of the
manufacturers to try to have almond milk be confusable with normal milk for
consumers.

~~~
partiallypro
Unfortunately I think you're underestimated how uneducated some of the
population is. I think everyone knows it's not dairy, the confusion comes in
if it's nurturing like milk. When people say "milk" the first thing that comes
to mind (usually) is a mother's milk (any mammal.) So when they see "almond"
and "soy" milk they probably think they are equal alternatives which just
isn't true.

~~~
Maybestring
Right, the almond milk doesn't have the hormones to help a baby cow grow big
and strong.

You absolutely should not raise a calf on almond milk.

~~~
partiallypro
I don't know if you're being sarcastic, but there have been cases of parents
feeding their babies almond or soy milk instead of regular milk. Some people
still actively encourage it; without any supplementing of actual milk this is
quite dangerous.

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Maybestring
The sarcastic point is, cow milk is not a replacement for human milk or infant
formula either.

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ppseafield
Reminds me of the "melloream"[0] nonsense that happened in New York. Oat milk
creamer became significant competition for the dairy industry. Then a law was
passed that classified non-dairy milks as "melloream", required that they be
regulated exactly like dairy products and also be pasturized. Of course nobody
knew what "melloream" was, so it doesn't sell. Just a protectionist law that
only helps keep up some businesses' profits.

A similar story is Unilever and the Egg Board's squabbles with Hampton Creek
over "Just Mayo" and whether it was actually mayonnaise. [1]

[0]
[https://books.google.com/books?id=JkrdDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT98&lpg=P...](https://books.google.com/books?id=JkrdDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT98&lpg=PT98&dq=new+york+melloream&source=bl&ots=bwfC4n7FjI&sig=hGTHia20ueqxI6-4AefLl6xYHcY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-
mP-uhK7RAhUE2mMKHR-nDsoQ6AEIVjAN#v=onepage&q=new%20york%20melloream&f=false)

[1] [http://fortune.com/2016/10/10/american-egg-board-hampton-
cre...](http://fortune.com/2016/10/10/american-egg-board-hampton-creek/)

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perilunar
Personally I think we could push back on the dairy industry and instead force
them to label all their milk as 'Cow Milk'.

The dairy industry does not own the word.

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anoncoward111
Will they regulate milk of magnesia too, or is it cool cause they're a
megacorp?

~~~
jjeaff
Mega corps... As opposed to all those little boutique outfits making almond
milk?

~~~
anoncoward111
Out of curiosity, I researched it. Blue Diamond Almonds do about 1b in revenue
every year. Philipps is owned by Bayer, which does 35b.

Both are large, but I think one has more leverage than the other.

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aoner
This might be related to the upcoming arrival of 'clean milk'. That is milk
'brewed' with yeast:
[http://www.perfectdayfoods.com](http://www.perfectdayfoods.com). I personally
think this is going to be a game changer. The dairy industry is ripe for
disruption and is not sustainable at all.

~~~
trentlott
I doubt that has anything to do with the startup du jour. Are you connected to
them somehow?

If you pay attention to shelves, almond and soy milk are gaining in
popularity. The dairy industry is attempting to slow the momentum of an extant
product class.

~~~
aoner
I'm not connected to them, but do admire the idea. They just secured a 24M
funding and are partnering with some of the bigger players to substitute
animal based milk proteins with yeast based proteins:
[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/13/animal-f...](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/13/animal-
free-dairy-products-move-a-step-closer-to-market) . I think that yeast based
proteins should be cheaper compared to animal based proteins and this would be
one of the reasons why all the way down in the chain they will be replaced.

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cjcampbell
Clear case of good regulation vs bad regulation.

Sorry! As much as I try to avoid any comments of a political nature, my
capacity for self-restraint wasn’t up to the task this time.

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MiddleEndian
Finally I'll have the FDA on my side when I refer to soy juice as soy juice.

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fallingfrog
Guess we better outlaw the term "peanut butter" too then..

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aoner
Actually in The Netherlands for this reason peanut butter is actually called
peanut cheese (because the word butter is only supposed to be used with
products that contain actual butter).

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CtrlAltEngage
So from one dairy product to another?

