If this ruling is upheld across Europe, it could create significant challenges for producers of vegetarian dairy alternatives, which have been marketed for years with dairy-related names, such as soy milk. However, it seems unlikely that this interpretation of existing legislation will go unopposed, especially if it impacts companies that have been successfully marketing their dairy alternatives without issues for years. Currently, the United States has avoided a similar ruling, but there are ongoing legal battles in both courtrooms and Congress. Separate lawsuits have been filed against almond milk brands Silk and Almond Breeze, alleging that these products were falsely advertised as nutritionally equivalent to cow’s milk. Both lawsuits were dismissed, either for another agency to address the matter or because the judge found the claims unconvincing. The Silk case has been sent back to the Food and Drug Administration for their assessment, while the judge in the Almond Breeze case ruled that reasonable consumers would immediately recognize that a product labeled “almond milk” is not dairy.
A bill under consideration in both houses of Congress, known as the DAIRY PRIDE Act — Defending Against Imitation and Replacements of Yogurt, Milk, and Cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Every Day — aims to prohibit any plant-based food from using the market name of dairy products. Despite having several cosponsors, the bill is progressing slowly through the hearings process. The European Court of Justice’s interpretation of European legislation was prompted by a claim of unfair competition, which may not necessarily relate to confusion over nutritional equivalency. European law allows the term “milk” to be used for goat’s milk or sheep’s milk, as long as the product is properly labeled. If consumers can distinguish between goat’s milk and cow’s milk, they should also be able to recognize when a product comes from almonds. The European Vegetarian Union emphasizes that clarifying these differences is in everyone’s interest.
Although non-dairy milk alternatives are rapidly gaining popularity, their sales still lag behind those of dairy milk products, amounting to $1.9 billion compared to $17.8 billion. Nonetheless, the dairy sector feels threatened. According to Mintel, U.S. sales of non-dairy milk grew by 9% in 2015, while dairy milk sales fell by 7% during the same period. As consumers increasingly seek alternatives that provide essential nutrients, such as calcium citrate plus vitamin D3—important vitamins for life—the market dynamics may continue to shift, prompting further scrutiny and regulation in the dairy alternative sector.