Madison, WI – The Wisconsin Dairy Products Association (WDPA) and Cooperative Network, today announced its strong support for the bipartisan DAIRY PRIDE Act of 2025, legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jim Risch (R-ID), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Peter Welch (D-VT) to stop the misleading practice of labeling plant-based products with dairy terms like milk, cheese, and yogurt.
“The Wisconsin Dairy Products Association strongly supports the DAIRY PRIDE Act and applauds Senator Baldwin’s leadership in championing this bipartisan effort,” said Amy Winters, Executive Director of WDPA. “Dairy farmers and processors take great pride in producing wholesome, nutritious products that meet rigorous standards. Plant-based products should stand on their own merits and develop their own identity, rather than relying on dairy’s established reputation and nutritional credibility to market their products.”
The DAIRY PRIDE Act would require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce existing standards of identity for dairy products and issue updated guidance to prevent plant-based products from using dairy-specific terms. Under the bill, FDA must implement this guidance within 90 days and report back to Congress within two years to ensure compliance and accountability.
“Our farmer-owned cooperatives are proud to produce real dairy products that nourish families across Wisconsin and the country,” said Jennifer Wickman, Director of Government Relations for Cooperative Network. “The DAIRY PRIDE Act is an important measure to protect the integrity of dairy products.”
“Dairy terms like milk and cheese are federally regulated and defined and only include products that are derived from dairy animals,” Winters continued. “This legislation will ensure those definitions are upheld, protect dairy’s nutritional integrity, and allow plant-based products to define themselves on their own terms.”
“Just as Wisconsin fought to preserve the integrity of real butter during the oleo margarine battles generations ago, today we are fighting to ensure dairy terms like milk and cheese continue to mean what they always have: real dairy from real dairy animals,” Winters said. “The DAIRY PRIDE Act ensures those definitions remain clear.
