What is milk? What is cheese or yogurt? These are not abstract questions — consumers deserve confidence that the products they purchase are accurately represented. Standards of Identity (SOIs) provide that assurance. They define a food’s mandatory and optional ingredients, outline compositional requirements, and, in some cases, prescribe methods of production or formulation.
The U.S. government began establishing SOIs in 1939. Today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees standards for 20 food categories. But one industry is regulated more than others: dairy. More than one-third of FDA’s SOIs apply to dairy products.
For the dairy industry, SOIs present both challenges and benefits. If a manufacturer uses a new process or ingredient not specified in the standards, their product could be deemed misbranded or adulterated. Alternatively, well-considered and flexible SOIs facilitate consumer trust, international trade, and innovation.
Standards of identity help establish and preserve consumer trust and are necessary to facilitate exports and trade. However, SOIs often lag behind the market curve, stifling industry growth by slowing the adoption of novel technologies, ingredients, and manufacturing processes.
This delay between the market and regulations regarding Standards of Identity can have an enormous impact on every dairy product, whether it is already in the marketplace, in the pipeline, or in the mind of an innovator working on the next paradigm shifting technology. For this reason, it is critical that both U.S. and international standards keep pace with food science discoveries, new technology, and — most importantly — consumer demands.
IDFA works closely with several agencies and organizations to ensure a balance is achieved when setting standards for dairy products. These key entities are the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), as well as state governments on some SOIs. On the international stage, IDFA engages with both the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which develops standards to reduce barriers and improve dairy trade, and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which sets guidance and best practices for food production and testing methods, to promote harmonization across U.S. and international standards for dairy products.
In the United States, the existing vertical process of establishing, updating, and revoking SOIs on an individual basis through notice-and-comment rulemaking lacks responsiveness to real world events. The country needs a more efficient standards-setting process — one that is open to innovation, focuses on core attributes to dairy products, and readily acts on opportunities for horizontal harmonization across all dairy product standards. The FDA should pursue a horizontal approach to SOI modernization. This approach would allow specific categories of flexibility across all of the food standards. Target areas for modernizing dairy SOIs horizontally could include:
Vice President, Regulatory and Scientific Affairs
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Nutrition
Senior Vice President, Regulatory and Scientific Affairs
