On Thursday, news leaked out that the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) have filed a petition asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to alter the definition of milk.
In a truly shocking act that defies logic to even countries like China, Cuba, and North Korea, it is here in the United States that the esteemed powers-that-be are attempting to re-write the rules of Mother Nature. The request at hand is that these groups are asking to be allowed to secretly include chemical sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame within the nation's milk supply through this petition that has been filed with the FDA.
More damning is that the request goes on to state that none of these additives would need to be listed on the label; hence, why they are asking for the definition of "milk" to be altered. For those individuals that are valiantly trying to avoid aspartame, there will be no way to do so because the chemical would not be listed on the label.
Should this new labeling be allowed to take effect in 17 products including:
- Yogurt
- Cream
- Sour cream
- Egg Nog
- Whipping cream
- Half-and-half
- Evaporated milk
In a baffling approach, the industry giants are stating that all this is being done to "save the children" because they reason that the use of aspartame in milk will reduce calories.
The consumption of aspartame has more than 90 known side effects that could affect the consumer including headaches, dizziness, mood swings, memory loss, fatigue, and sleeping problems.
The dairy industry argues that the aspartame should be hidden from consumers:
IDFA and NMPF argue that nutrient content claims such as "reduced calorie" are not attractive to children, and maintain that consumers can more easily identify the overall nutritional value of milk products that are flavored with non-nutritive sweeteners if the labels do not include such claims. Further, the petitioners assert that consumers do not recognize milk -- including flavored milk -- as necessarily containing sugar. Accordingly, the petitioners state that milk flavored with non-nutritive sweeteners should be labeled as milk without further claims so that consumers can "more easily identify its overall nutritional value."
To summarize, by hiding the aspartame from consumers, it will benefit us, the end users. The IDFA and NMPF are attempting to tell the FDA that they know what is best for we the people by taking away our right to be informed about what is in the milk supply.
In other words, hiding aspartame from consumers by not including it on the label actually helps consumers, according to the IDFA and NMPF!
Make your voice heard by contacting the FDA before May 21, 2013 to submit your comments. Click here for instructions.
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