The Senate Health Committee Tuesday advanced President Donald Trump’s nomination to lead the Food and Drug Administration to the full Senate.
The committee sent the nomination of Stephen Hahn as FDA commissioner to the full Senate for final confirmation, which the dairy industry says represents another step towards greater transparency in the use of dairy terms in the marketplace.
The National Milk Producers Federation is eager to see Hahn take the FDA role, as Hahn voiced his support in his confirmation hearing last month for “clear, transparent, and understandable labeling for the American people,” when asked about dairy imitating products using dairy terms.
Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of NMPF, says, “It is long past time for the FDA to begin enforcing its own standards.”
Current FDA standards make “clear that dairy terms are reserved for real dairy products, not plant-based imitators,” according to Mulhern.
The organization, which has been speaking out on plant-based imitators for four decades, noted encouragement by recent FDA attention to the issue.