Soy, oat, and almond beverages may be called milk, F.D.A. Said

Plant-based drink makers welcomed the agency's decision but opposed the recommendation that labels specify nutritional differences with cow's milk.

Oatmeal, soy and almond beverages may retain the word milk in their name, the Food and Drug Administration proposed this week , in an effort to end a long-running battle between the mighty dairy industry and the factory-based newcomers who changed the way Americans consume grain and flavor their coffee.

Most consumers, the agency notes in its draft proposal, are aware that liquid plant extracts have no relation to a cow's udder.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But in a concession to the country's traditional milk producers, F. D.A. also recommended that the packaging of plant-based drinks specify the main nutritional differences between their products and cow's milk. If a carton of rice milk contains less vitamin D or calcium than cow's milk, for example, the label must provide that information to consumers, the agency said.

Although the new labeling recommendations are described as voluntary, industry experts have predicted that most companies will comply. The agency plans to issue a final decision after another public comment period.

"Today's draft guidance has been developed to help make in the face of the significant increase in plant-based milk replacement products that we have seen become available on the market over the past decade,” said F.D.A. Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf said in "The draft recommendations released today should lead to providing consumers with clear labeling to give them the information they need to make informed nutrition and purchasing decisions about the products they buy for themselves and their families."

The F.D.A. guidelines had been eagerly awaited by dairy farmers and the vast plant-based food industry, which were disagree on the question of s have if the word "milk" on products derived from nuts and grains confuses consumers. The debate, which was sparked four decades ago by the introduction of soy drinks, has taken on greater urgency amid a seismic shift in eating habits. Products like oat milk continue to experience robust growth, while milk consumption has been on a downward trajectory for decades. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Americans drink almost half as much milk on average as they did in 1970.

Rising Adoption of Nut-Based Beverages cashew, quinoa, or flaxseed was fueled in part by health issues; some people buy them because they are lactose intolerant. And a growing number of Americans cite either the desire for a vegan diet or the contribution of dairy farming to climate change through the manure and methane produced by cows. Animal rights activists have sought to portray dairy farming as inherently cruel, a claim that has been rejected by the industry. For some consumers, the shift to plant-based products is just a matter of taste.

Plant-based leaders were expecting a less favorable judgment, given the skepticism expressed by one of Dr. Califf's recent predecessors, Dr. Scott Gottlieb. In 2018, he said "an almond does not produce lactate" - comments suggesting the agency could seek a ban on the word "milk" for non-dairy drinks.

Madeline Cohen, a regulatory attorney at the Good Food Institute, which promotes plant-based food products, said the FDA advice was a welcome acknowledgment that consumers were savvy enough to know that milk coco was not produced by lactating animals. "We know that consumers are going out and deliberately buying these products," she said. "No one buys...