SOUTH East dairy farmers are among those urging the Federal Government to change the country’s food standards in a bid to ban plant-based products from using the term “milk” on labels and in marketing.
Peak dairy farmer group Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) is calling for a review of labelling and marketing on non-dairy alternatives, including possible changes to the Food Standards Code and development of additional regulations to prevent plant-based alternatives from ‘evoking’ the qualities and values of dairy.
ADF President Terry Richardson said the “dishonest” strategy gave the misleading impression plant-based products had a nutritional equivalency with dairy milk.
A 2017 survey by Dairy Australia showed 54pc of respondents bought plant-based milk alternatives because they perceived them to be healthier than dairy milk.
“Australia needs to restore truth in product labelling so that consumers can make more accurate food and beverage choices,” Mr Richardson said.
“Over the past decade, a growing number of plant-based products have cropped up, using the name milk, co-opting the look and feel of dairy milk right down to the packaging and trading on dairy’s reputation to gain a marketing advantage.
A ban on plant-based products using the “milk” label would bring Australia in line with other countries, after the European Court of Justice in 2017 mandated that dairy terms could not be used on plant-based products, even with clarifying terms.
“We are calling for changes to (Australia’s) food standards so that consumers trying to make a healthy choice at the supermarket have the benefit of transparent and accurate product labelling,” Mr Richardson said.
