Historically, a number of plant-based beverages have been traditionally referred to as "milk". One of the first reliable modern English dictionaries,
Samuel Johnson's 1755
A Dictionary of the English Language, gave two definitions of the word "milk". The first described "the liquor with which animals feed their young from the breast", and the second an "emulsion made by contusion of seeds", using almond milk as an example. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the use of the term "milk" for plant-based drinks became controversial. As demand for plant-based milks increased, dairy manufacturers and distributors advocated for legally restricting the term to animal products only: arguing that consumers may confuse the two, or be misled as to the nutritional content of plant-based alternatives. Many jurisdictions strictly regulate the use of the term "milk" on
food labelling. Some countries have outright banned its use for non-dairy products, while others mandate that "milk" only be used with qualifiers (such as "oat milk") on non-dairy alternatives. Where use of the term "milk" is restricted, plant milks may be labeled with terms reflecting their composition (such as "oat drink"), or absence of ingredients (such as "dairy-free"). Qualifiers such as "soy milk" are allowed, due to the use of quotation marks in the legislative instrument.
Canada The
Canadian Food Inspection Agency limits the use of the word "milk" solely to ″the normal lacteal secretion, free from
colostrum, obtained from the mammary gland of an animal″.
Europe In December 2013,
European Union regulations stated that the terms "milk", "butter", "cheese", "cream" and "yoghurt" can be used to market and advertise products derived only from animal milk, with a small number of exceptions, including coconut milk,
peanut butter and
ice cream. In 2017, the
Landgericht Trier (Trier regional court), Germany, asked the
Court of Justice of the European Union, to clarify European food-labeling law (Case C-422/16), with the court stating that plant-based products cannot be marketed as milk, cream, butter, cheese or yoghurt within the European Union because these are reserved for animal products; exceptions to this do not include tofu and soy. Although plant-based dairy alternatives are not allowed to be called "milk", "cheese" and the like, they are allowed to be described as buttery or creamy. However, there are exceptions for each of the EU languages, based on established use of livestock terms for non-livestock products. The list's extent varies widely; for example there is only one exception in Polish, and 20 exceptions in English. A proposal for further restrictions failed at second reading in the European Parliament, in May 2021. The proposal, called Amendment 171, would have outlawed labels including 'yogurt-style' and 'cheese alternative'. In the
United Kingdom, strict standards are applied via
acts of parliament to food labeling for terms such as milk, cheese, cream, yogurt, which are protected to describe dairy products and may not be used to describe non-dairy produce. These rules date from the
United Kingdom's membership of the European Union, and are still in force in Great Britain. To contrast, as of September 2023, the EU
Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 applies directly to
Northern Ireland.
India The
FSSAI stipulates products need a declaration with the phrase "non-dairy product" if the product is a 'plant based beverage', and these must not be labelled with any dairy term. The use of the word 'milk' is limited to animal products. The regulator makes exceptions for cases where, internationally, as in the case of
coconut milk and
peanut butter, dairy terms were already in-use traditionally.
United States In the United States, the dairy industry petitioned the
FDA to ban the use of terms like "milk", "cheese", "cream" and "butter" on plant-based analogues (except for peanut butter). FDA commissioner
Scott Gottlieb stated on July 17, 2018, that the term "milk" is used imprecisely in the labeling of non-dairy beverages, such as soy milk, oat milk and almond milk: "An almond doesn't
lactate", he said. In response, the Plant-Based Foods Association stated the word "imitation" was disparaging, and there was no evidence that consumers were misled or confused about plant-based milks. As of 2021, though the USDA is investigating and various state legislatures are considering regulation, various courts have determined that reasonable consumers are not confused, and the FDA has enacted no regulations against plant-based milk labels. Proponents of plant-based milk assert that these labeling requirements are infantilizing to consumers and burdensome and unfair on dairy-alternatives. Critics of the FDA's labeling requirements also asserted that there is often collusion between government officials and the dairy industry in an attempt to maintain dairy dominance in the market. For example, in 2017, Sen.
Tammy Baldwin of
Wisconsin introduced the "Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, Milk, and Cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday (DAIRY PRIDE) Act" which would prevent almond milk, coconut milk and cashew milk from being labeled with terms like "milk", "yogurt", and "cheese". Proponents of plant-based dairy alternatives argued that dairy sales are decreasing faster than plant sales are increasing and that therefore, attacking plant milks as being the chief reason for a decline in dairy consumption is inaccurate. A 2020 USDA study found that the "increase in sales over 2013 to 2017 of plant-based options is one-fifth the size of the decrease in Americans' purchases of cow's milk." ==Health recommendations==