What is milk? The heated debate between labeling animal and plant 'milk' continues with spoofs and a Muppet

'Got milk?' ad campaigns poke fun at their competitions'
claims. (California Milk Processor Board photo)

Got milk? The question is still a dairy ad slogan, but it's also a part of a contentious debate. "A flood of plant-based milk alternatives — almond, oat, coconut, rice, flax, hemp and soy — has set off an aggressive defense by dairy milk producers," reports Kristina Peterson of The Wall Street Journal. "Milk producers and their allies are lobbying to scrub 'milk' off the labels of plant-based rivals. Their position is: If it doesn't come from a lactating animal, it isn't milk."

As part of their campaign, animal milk producers have deployed an array of spoofs to point out what milk is. In one mockumentary-style video, an actress looks at a tree and asks, "Can I drink this?" Peterson writes, "As it turns out, the answer is yes, she says before taking a stomach-turning sip. The video, which collected 5.7 million views, is among several from the Milk Processor Education Program, an industry-funded group known as MilkPep."

Cookie Monster gives soy a try and declares it
'yumyumyum.' (Photo via PR Newswire)

Plant-based milk companies have their own arsenal of promoters, including one of America's most beloved snack lovers. Peterson reports, "Califia Farms recruited Cookie Monster, the blue-furred 'Sesame Street' Muppet, to try almond milk in his cereal for an ad. No surprise, the celebrity milk dunker liked it, calling himself a 'multifaceted individual.'"

Over the years, plant-based milk has chipped away at animal-based dairy profits, but both face stiff market competition. "Sales of plant-based milk, measured by dollars, have grown 48% since 2018 but edged down in the past year," Peterson explains. "The two rivals also face a tsunami of bottled-, canned- and boxed-water competitors — all vying to fill a limited niche."

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration proposed that "plant-based beverages could still be called milk but should carry labels that explain the nutritional differences with cow's milk," Peterson reports. Neither side was happy with the FDA's compromise. Almond growers growled that their customers weren't confused about the differences between the two products. The Almond Alliance, a trade group, told the FDA that "historians have traced almond milk to medieval times, dispelling any notion it originated in an artisanal coffee joint."

Animal dairy producers have asked lawmakers to intervene by "prohibiting any food made of nuts, seeds, plants or algae from using such dairy terms as milk or cheese," Peterson writes. Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, a state where dairy dominates the agricultural sector, is a sponsor of the bill. Simpson told the Journal, "I'm not trying to restrict what you can drink. Just label it what it is. I got no problem with almond 'drink.'"