Fresh liquid milk is a premium quality, short shelf-life food of immense nutritional value that has for generations been a fundamental pillar of the Australian rural and regional economies and communities; unlike less nutritional plant derived liquids calling themselves ‘milks’.

Industry advocacy group Dairy Connect invites you to support its petition for truth in labelling for processed plant liquids sold to retail consumers as ‘milks’.

Non-dairy liquids marketed nationally include soy, cashew, almond, oat, hemp, rice and coconut extracts. All of which utilise vastly different methods of production to that of cows milk.

Cows milk also generally contains higher levels of protein and a wider range of vitamins and minerals.
For further information refer to nutritionist Catherine Saxelby's comments regarding this issue.

It is for these reasons that Dairy Connect would like to bring to the attention of our food policy makers that the traditional definition of 'milk' and other dairy terms such as 'cheese', 'cream' and 'yoghurt' are defined by FSANZ as being derived from the "mammary secretions of milking animals". As written in their Standards Code 2.5, seen here: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2015L00462

We have already witnessed such action be applied in the European Union, as their Court of Justice similarly felt that the need to differentiate the labelling between the two vastly different product types was significant. In their release, they cited that the use of traditional dairy terminology on plant-based labels was a source "of confusion on the part of consumers": https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2017-06/cp170063en.pdf.

Additionally, The United States were the first major western nation to introduce legislation to protect the right of dairy to have exclusive use of the terms ‘milk’, ‘cheese’, ‘cream’ and ‘yoghurt’. In January of 2017 the bill to ‘require enforcement against misbranded milk alternatives’ was introduced into congress. The act (referred to as the ‘DAIRY PRIDE Act’) was processed and enforced across the US by congress shortly after. Their findings are found at https://congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/130/text

Dairy Connect encourages all supporters of Australian Dairy to show their support for our movement by signing the petition on this page and sharing the campaign with fellow milk lovers.

Update: Ongoing studies from research institutions across the world have revealed the immense benefits gained by drinking cows milk. As always we encourage our community to do their own research, but a few of these publications can be found below:

• Pereira (2014) - A review of milk nutritional composition and its role in human health - Journal of nutrition
• Thorning et al. (2016) - Milk and dairy products: good or bad for human health? An assessment of the totality of scientific evidence - Journal of Food and Nutrition Research
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2013) - Milk and dairy products in human nutrition
• Rozenberg et al. (2016) - Effects of Dairy Products Consumption on Health: Benefits and Beliefs - International Journal of Calcified Tissue