Dairy Processors Commend Pennsylvania's Action to Rescind Product Labeling
Decision
(Washington, D.C. January 18, 2008) The International Dairy Foods
Association (IDFA) commends the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture for its
decision yesterday to rescind a ruling that would have prevented dairy
processors from making truthful product claims on their fluid milk labels.
"We applaud Governor Ed Rendell, Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff and the
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture for recognizing that dairy processors
have every right to make claims on their product labels that are truthful and
not misleading," said Clay Hough, IDFA group vice president and general
counsel.
Yesterday's action supersedes the ruling issued by the department last October,
which would have banned the use of all rbST "absence claims" on fluid
milk products.
To read Pennsylvania's revised milk labeling standards, go to http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us/agriculture/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=145988
The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents
the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers,
with a membership of 530 companies
representing a $90-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three
constituent organizations: the Milk
Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the
International Ice Cream Association
(IICA). IDFA's 220 dairy processing members run more than 600 plant operations,
and range from large
multi- national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent
more than 85% of the milk,
cultured products, cheese and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the
United States. IDFA can be found
online at http://www.idfa.org