Cary Frye, IDFA vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs, joined other industry experts in the Netherlands earlier this month to identify communication and research activities that will accelerate progress on the key priorities of the Global Dairy Platform. The meeting, hosted by FrieslandCampina, focused on three issues - milkfat, nutrient density and sustainability - and industry efforts that can help GDP to enhance the image of milk and dairy products around the world.
Global Dairy Platform is an international non-profit organization based in Chicago that unites leading dairy corporations, cooperatives and associations in an effort to coordinate industry resources, reduce duplication of research and promotional efforts, and expand global demand for milk and dairy products. Frye serves as a member of the organization's Communication and Scientific Advisory Board, comprised of international health and nutrition scientists, academics, communicators and other experts from the regulatory field who guide GDP's efforts.
"At this meeting, we continued to streamline our efforts and hone in on ways to enhance communications about GDP's existing information to leverage dairy's nutrient density, ways to provide a more balanced view of milkfat in dairy products and about how dairy fits in sustainable agriculture," said Frye. "We also focused on identifying new consumer or scientific research that might be needed to support these efforts."
Frye also presented an overview of international regulations and their impact on the global dairy industry. A member of the Codex Committee on Food Labeling, Frye discussed the committee's recent work and outlined possible areas where the GDP committee, working collectively with the International Dairy Federation and others in industry, could provide input.
- Strengthen dairy industry positions for Codex;
- Explore ways to shift consumer and government emphasis from nutrients to limit to nutrients to include;
- Provide new science on trans fatty acids; and
- Consider a new framework for no-added sugar and salt labeling claims.
Members with questions may contact Frye at cfrye@idfa.org or (202) 220-3543.