UEP weighs in on plant-based milk alternatives

April 27, 2023

Plant-based products that imitate animal products should be required to disclose their nutrient shortfalls and be labeled “imitation,” UEP said in comments filed with the Food and Drug Administration.

FDA is taking comments on a guidance document that deals with plant-based milk alternatives. However, the agency has announced it will issue a similar guidance document on plant-based alternatives to other animal foods such as meat and eggs. Therefore, UEP wrote, how the milk guidance comes out is directly relevant to egg producers.

UEP supported FDA’s concept that plant-based milk products disclose nutrient shortfalls compared to cow’s milk but said the disclosures should also apply to “avoidance” nutrients where the imitators contain more than the real product does (many imitation egg products have high levels of sodium).

UEP supported FDA’s position that imitation products should have a modifier that tells what plant they come from. For example, a beverage made from almonds must be called “almond milk,” not just “milk.” Similarly, UEP wrote, “future guidance should instruct makers of imitation eggs made from, for example, mung beans to label the product ‘mung bean eggs.‘”