The National Milk Producers Federation wants the FDA to ensure imitation dairy product rules are properly enforced. On Thursday, the organization made the ask of the agency's ombudsman, citing little indication of promised action. NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern said, “The FDA’s Office of the Ombudsman must intervene to break the bureaucratic logjam.”

The FDA ombudsman, based in the agency commissioner’s office, “serves as a neutral and independent resource for members of FDA-regulated industries when they experience problems with the regulatory process,” according to the agency.

NMPF urged the office to take appropriate action to remedy the FDA's lax approach to enforcing its own rules on the use of dairy terms on products containing no dairy ingredients. The organization added unlawfully labeled plant-based imitation foods "poses an immediate and growing risk to public health." Last year NMPF released its own road map offering solutions to how public health, product integrity and free speech could be protected through updated regulations.

Click Here to read the NMPF's letter.

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