TWO GROUPS PETITION FDA FOR RENAME OF MILK TYPES

WASHINGTON (FNS) -- In an unusual coupling, the Milk Industry Foundation has joined with the Center for Science in the Public Interest to ask the Food and Drug Administration to rename two milk products in light of the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act.

he FDA to allow skim milk to be called "fat-free" milk. Milk that is now labeled "1% low-fat milk" already meets the NLEA's standards.

"By making this voluntary change, the term low-fat when applied to milk will have the same meaning as when applied to all other foods," said E. Linwood Tipton, MIF president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

Congress had exempted the pre-existing dairy product fat claim standards when approving the NLEA. However, the petition argued that lawmakers didn't intend for these regulations "to serve as permanent havens for inconsistent definitions of nutrient content claims.

"If a term such as 'low fat' has one meaning when applied to foods in general and a different meaning when applied to a widely-consumed staple food such as milk, the result might well be confusion in the minds of many consumers as to the significance of the term," the petition said.

Regarding skim milk, the petition noted the NLEA doesn't have a definition for the term "skim." By changing the label to "nonfat" or "fat-free," skim milk would be brought in line with the NLEA, which permits these descriptors to be used on products with no more than 0.5 grams of fat per serving.

"These changes will make it easier for consumers to shop for reduced, lowfat and fat-free products," noted Bruce Silverglade, CSPI legal director.

The CSPI and the milk industry took widely different positions on the fat-content claims to be included in the NLEA, which went into effect Feb. 14, 1994.

An FDA spokesman said agency officials are aware of the differing fat-content standards governing dairy products and are interested in reviewing the CSPI and MIF's petition.