"Dairy Pride" and "soy boys": The heated identity politics of non-dairy milk

On Feb. 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made a recommendation that shook the dairy industry. These include products like soy, oat, almond and pea milks, which the FDA collectively refers to throughout the draft as PBMAs, or "plant-based milk alternatives." "These statements will help consumers make informed dietary choices when it comes to understanding certain nutritional differences between plant-based products that are labeled with 'milk' in their names and milk," the release said. "Until the FDA enforces its own standards of identity for milk by getting dairy terms right – reserving them for the real thing to distinguish them from the nutritionally deficient concoctions that hide behind milk's health halo – the lie of 'healthy' plant-based 'milk' is likely to persist," the organization wrote. "Until the FDA enforces its own standards of identity for milk by getting dairy terms right – reserving them for the real thing to distinguish them from the nutritionally deficient concoctions that hide behind milk's health halo – the lie of 'healthy' plant-based 'milk' is likely to persist."