The newly confirmed commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration is being pushed by dairy industry groups to stop the mislabeling of imitation dairy foods. Dr. Robert Califf is a cardiologist who served as commissioner in the last year of the Obama Administration. Mykel Wedig is Director of governmental affairs with Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative. She says they look forward to working with Califf to preserve the use of dairy terms for dairy products.
She says Califf was pressed by Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin during his Senate confirmation hearing where he committed to taking action.
Wedig says their surveys show mislabeling as a top concern for dairy producers. The FDA has strict standards of identity for dairy products, but the agency has continued to refuse to enforce the rules which she says is wrong.
Wedig says this is also a consumer protection issue and the public deserves to know what they’re eating.
