Read the original article by Taylor Leach at dairyherd.com here.
Senators in top dairy states are pushing hard to enforce the “Dairy Pride Act,” which aims to appropriately label non-dairy products as “nut juice” or “imitation dairy products.” PETA is pushing back.
As an attempt to combat the act, PETA plans to launch the campaign “De-Calf Your Coffee. Dairy is Udder Cruelty. Choose Almond, Soy or Coconut Milk.” The PETA promotion is timed to coincide with National Dairy Month in June. Targeting independent coffee shops, approximately 20,000 “cruelty-free” creamer sleeves will be distributed to protect the hands of coffee drinkers in the capital cities of popular dairy states like New York, California, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin.
“Learning of the conditions under which cow’s milk is obtained leaves a sour taste in your mouth,” says PETA Vice President Dan Mathews. “That’s why so many consumers are ditching the dairy variety for coconut, almond, oat, hazelnut, and soy milks.”
PETA may extend the coffee sleeve campaign beyond National Dairy Month depending on the development of the Dairy Pride Act.
Introduced by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), the bill, which was brought to Congress in January, 2017, would stop companies from labeling plant-based products like milk, yogurt and cheese as dairy.
The Food and Drug Administration currently defines milk as the “lacteal secretion, practical free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows.” If passed, the Dairy Pride Act would enforce companies misusing this definition to re-brand their products to avoid misleading consumers.
As many dairy promotional companies gear up to promote the industry to consumers throughout the month of June, PETA hopes to do just the opposite by going after not only coffee shop goers, but state senators like Tammy Baldwin, as well.
