On March 2, 2017, Nigel Barrella, on behalf of his client the Good Food Institute, submitted a citizen petition to FDA. The petition notes the proliferation of new, innovative foods in the marketplace, and requests that FDA formally acknowledge its policy of allowing new foods to be named in a natural, commonsense way that consumers understand.
The petition particularly addresses the increasing variety of plant-based foods, including dairy alternatives such as soy milk, almond milk, soy yogurt, and so on. Some voices in the dairy industry have asked FDA to adopt anticompetitive policies towards these products — regulating the language that these products use in order to thwart consumer understanding and connote inferiority. The petition describes how this would lead to confusion, and is inconsistent with hundreds of products already on the market. Additionally, the petition notes that this attempt to regulate natural language would likely be unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
The petition is open for public comment online. For more information, contact Nigel.
