“A bill to require enforcement against misbranded milk alternatives.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section declares the purpose of the Act to prohibit introducing or delivering for introduction into interstate commerce any food using the name of a standardized dairy product unless the food meets the dairy product criterion under new section 403(z)(2) or the imitation requirements of section 403(c). (As background, section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act specifies conditions under which a food is misbranded, including imitation labeling, and misbranded foods may not be introduced into interstate commerce; standardized dairy products, such as milk and yogurt, have FDA-established definitions and standards of identity under regulations authorized by section 401.)
This section amends section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) (21 U.S.C. 343) by adding paragraph (z) to deem a food misbranded if it uses the name of a standardized dairy product (i.e., terms in 21 CFR parts 131 and 133 or 21 CFR 135.110, 135.115, and 135.140, or any other standard-of-identity term with dairy as the primary ingredient) without qualifying as a dairy product—defined as a food that is, contains as a primary ingredient, or is derived from the lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, of one or more hooved mammals—or without meeting imitation food requirements under section 403(c). (Thus, plant-based alternatives labeled with dairy product names are misbranded unless they comply with imitation standards, subjecting violators to existing civil and criminal penalties under FD&C Act section 303 (21 U.S.C. 333).) The section further directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the FDA Commissioner, to (1) issue draft enforcement guidance within 90 days of enactment and final guidance within 180 days; and (2) nullify any prior inconsistent FDA guidance upon enactment. Finally, this section requires the Secretary to report to Congress within two years of enactment on enforcement under new section 403(z)—including warnings issued and penalties assessed under section 303—and, if misbranded food under that paragraph remains offered for sale in interstate commerce, to include an updated enforcement plan.