Press Releases

The International Dairy Foods Association commended members of Congress for approving an omnibus appropriations bill last night that amends Section 199A of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to resolve unintended consequences that threatened to distort the dairy marketplace. The amended language levels the playing field for IDFA’s cooperative and non-cooperative members that produce milk and dairy products. “IDFA applauds the members of Congress who demonstrated that they care about the state of the U.S. agricultural economy and worked tirelessly to find a solution that allows farmers to sell their agricultural products to their buyers of choice without being unduly influenced by tax code considerations,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO.

IDFA today announced its support for a congressional proposal that would amend Section 199A of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to resolve unintended consequences that have distorted the dairy marketplace. The proposal is designed to level the playing field for IDFA’s cooperative and non-cooperative members that produce milk and dairy products, and IDFA urges Congress to include this proposal in the final appropriations, or omnibus, bill for fiscal year 2018 later this month.

IDFA and the National Milk Producers Federation applauded the withdrawal this week of a series of bills in the Tennessee state legislature that could have increased consumers’ risk of foodborne illness by encouraging the use of raw milk. “Our dairy industry benefits from a very high degree of consumer confidence – confidence built in large part due to the excellent food safety record of milk and dairy products,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO. “Legalizing and regulating the sale of raw milk sends a signal to consumers that drinking unpasteurized milk is safe when, in fact, the opposite is true.”

In testimony before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative today, the Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN), of which IDFA is a founding member, urged the U.S. government to intensify its efforts to repel attempts by the European Union to confiscate generic terms within major trading markets, as well as within the United States itself. CCFN's testimony was presented as part of the USTR's preparation of its annual Special 301 review of intellectual property rights protections among U.S. trading partners.

IDFA today urged the Food and Drug Administration to modernize outdated standards of identity for dairy products, revise overly burdensome regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act and extend the compliance date for the revised Nutrition Facts label in comments filed in response to the agency’s request to identify regulations that foods manufacturers believe should be repealed, replaced or modified. “IDFA supports the Trump administration’s goals to significantly reduce regulatory burdens while maintaining the product safety and integrity that consumers expect,” said Cary Frye, IDFA senior vice president for regulatory affairs.

IDFA is now accepting applications for the 14th annual Dairy Industry Safety Recognition Awards, a program that honors facilities and trucking operations for outstanding worker safety performance. “We are pleased to recognize IDFA members that have implemented proactive safety programs to prevent illness and injuries from occurring in the workplace and that have outstanding safety statistics to verify the programs are working,” said Emily Lyons, IDFA director of regulatory affairs and counsel. All entries must be submitted to IDFA no later than March 30, 2018.

Putting low-fat flavored milk back into schools will bolster the nutrition intake of America’s children, IDFA and the National Milk Producers Federation said in joint comments submitted on Monday to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2012, USDA eliminated low-fat flavored milk as an option in the school meal and a la carte programs, which resulted in students consuming 288 million fewer half-pints of milk from 2012-2015. “We appreciate USDA’s commitment to reverse declining school milk consumption by providing students with access to a variety of milk options, including the flavored milks they enjoy,” said Cary Frye, IDFA senior vice president of regulatory affairs.

The National Cheese Institute named David M. Barbano, Ph.D., a professor of food science at Cornell University, as the recipient of the 2018 NCI Laureate Award. NCI Chairman David Ahlem, who is president and CEO of Hilmar Cheese Company, Inc., presented the award to Dr. Barbano this week during a special ceremony at Dairy Forum. Through his research, Dr. Barbano has developed and introduced many industry advancements, including new cheese manufacturing processes that are cost effective and have helped to improve product safety.

Brian Kraus, director of food safety and regulatory compliance at Wells Enterprises, Inc., received IDFA’s 2018 Food Safety Leadership Award at Dairy Forum. The award honors an individual, group or organization for demonstrating outstanding leadership in enhancing food safety within the dairy products industry, and Kraus has been a driving force for excellence in food safety for more than 30 years. “Brian Kraus has devoted his career to finding the best ways for manufacturers and processors to keep food safe for consumers,” said Alan Thomsen, president and CEO of Schoep’s Ice Cream Co., Inc., and IDFA board member, who presented the award.

Schrack Farm Resources LP of Loganton, Penn., was recognized as the 2018 Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year week at Dairy Forum. The award celebrates U.S. dairy producers that apply creativity, excellence and forward thinking to achieve greater on-farm productivity and improved milk marketing. “We’re pleased to honor Schrack Farm Resources because their operation effectively demonstrates that investment in environmentally friendly practices can lower costs, provide new revenue streams and offer greater efficiencies on the farm,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO.

The Consortium for Common Food Names, of which IDFA is a founding member, welcomes the Japanese government's decision to assure the continued general use for many generic food terms as part of its trade agreement with the European Union (EU), especially highly contested terms such as "parmesan" and "romano," even as CCFN seeks further assurances on several common terms still at risk. Japan has assured continued common use for the generic cheese names brie, camembert, cheddar, edam, emmental, gouda, grana, mozzarella, parmesan, pecorino, provolone and romano.

IDFA announced today that 80 dairy company operations will receive the IDFA Dairy Industry Safety Recognition Award this year for outstanding achievements in worker safety. This is the 14th year that IDFA has sponsored the program. “Winning firms have demonstrated that they are able to keep workplace safety front and center, and the large number of applications for the award process shows that safety truly matters to IDFA’s members,” said Dave Crowley, senior environmental health and safety director for HP Hood LLC and chair of IDFA’s Environmental Worker Safety Committee.

Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay must protect the interests of their local food producers and respect current international standards by rebuffing European Union (EU) efforts to confiscate common food and beverage names. This was the message sent to the Mercosur nations yesterday by the Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN), which has been sounding the alarm this year to governments from China and Japan to Mexico - and now in South America - about the EU's recent, systematic attempts to abuse geographical indications (GIs) protections. CCFN filed its letter as part of a brief comment period provided during the course of the EU-Mercosur negotiations.

The nation’s two leading dairy organizations applauded Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Wednesday for allowing school districts to offer low-fat (1%) flavored milk as part of the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs. An interim final rule implementing the regulatory changes needed to reinstate low-fat flavored milk in schools was announced today on the Federal Register site and goes into effect for the 2018-2019 school year.

IDFA has named Thomas Wojno to a newly created position of senior vice president of innovation and member advancement. In this role, Wojno will be responsible for identifying and implementing innovative strategies to enhance IDFA services, expand its diverse membership and develop new opportunities for growth. “Tom joins the IDFA team at a time when our industry is going through dynamic change,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO. “Tom’s demonstrated leadership and proven results will help ensure that IDFA will achieve its strategic vision of a strong, leading-edge organization that is positioned for the future.”