Two U.S. Representatives are urging the Food and Drug Administration to require “fake milk” manufacturers to adopt an alternative phrase.

Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) penned the letter last week, stating that the term “milk” in products such as almond and soy milk is “misleading to consumers, harmful to the dairy industry and a violation of milk’s standard of identity.” The letter adds that milk prices have declined 40 percent since 2014. According to The Soyfoods Association of North America, they have used the term “soymilk” for more than a century and has asked the FDA to recognize “soymilk,” but it has failed to do so.

Are these plant-based “milks” misleading to consumers? How should the FDA react?

You can read the full letter below.

Guest:

Ernest Baskin, assistant professor of food marketing at Saint Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania