Corby Kummer: Big Dairy's Fight for the Definition of Milk

In their fight against the alternative milk and nut-milk industries, Big Dairy has been lobbying Congress and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reserve the term “milk” for fluids obtained through “lacteal secretion” — and the FDA looks like it may enforce a stricter definition for “milk” soon.

Chief among the National Federation of Milk Producers’ concerns are that consumers are “being misled about the nutritional content of plant-based imitators relative to real dairy products.”

Award-winning food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio on Monday to share his thoughts on the situation.

“I think it's ridiculous,” Kummer said. “I think anybody who buys almond milk understands it's not cow’s milk.”

In the wide-ranging interview, Kummer also discussed the latest news from the nation’s baby formula shortage, and talked about the lack of nutrition education in medical schools.

Kummer is executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.