Dairy lobbyists are asking the government to confuse customers who want alternatives to cow’s milk.

Two of those alternatives are soy milk and almond milk. Advocates for the dairy industry claim those labels are false. As one lobbyist puts it: “Mammals produce milk, plants don’t.”

So members of Congress have urged the Food and Drug Administration to take action against these “false” labels. They’ve even attempted to pass laws to ban the labels.

That might have made sense years ago, when most Americans hadn’t heard of soy milk. Back then, consumers might have thought it was cow’s milk with soy added. (Think chocolate milk.) But now it’s well established that soy milk means a soy-based alternative to cow’s milk — a liquid that can be drunk, poured over cereal, or even (a leading manufacturer claims) cooked with as if it were milk.

That means the current labels give consumers a clear choice. Those who want cow’s milk can easily find it. Those who want an alternative can identify it.

Labeling soy milk as something else would only confuse customers, needlessly.

Why would it be the government’s role to do that? 

First Published June 10, 2017, 4:00 a.m.