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Dairy is nutritious, functional, widely available, and safe, undergoing many layers of testing to ensure that products that end up in stores and on shelves are safe to consume and live up to its nutritional claims. 

Consumers around the world benefit in multiple, tangible ways from strong definitions for many types of products, including foods, beverages, medicines, cosmetics, and many others.  Definitions allow consumers to buy protected goods and services with the assurance that they are authentic, that they provide the benefits they purport to deliver, and that they do so in a way that is free from consumer harm.  Definitions also provide support for free trade, where well-defined goods and services ensure that buying and selling in interstate and international commerce includes common standards for the materials being traded.

When it comes to food definitions, the consumer benefits from the following handful of critical core assurances:

• That the food or food ingredient was manufactured in a highly sanitary manner;
• That no prohibited substances are added during its manufacture;
• That the expected nutrients provided by such food, such as protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and mineralsGenerally refers to elements other than carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O) and nitrogen (N) that are found in dairy products. The term often is used interchangeably with salts and ash., are indeed provided by the food, at the expected levels or within defined ranges.

Foods and food ingredients that do not conform to established legal definitions may be considered adulteratedLegal term meaning the product fails to meet legal standards. Example: Addition of a substance that
reduces the quality of the product without declaring the presence of the substance. Adding a vegetable protein to whey
protein concentrate that is labeled as 100% WPC would be considered adulteration. See misbranded. and may be subject to mandatory recall from the marketplace under the authority of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDAThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation.).  Labeling of non-conforming material as if it were the authentic food product or substance may be considered food fraud and will have serious consequences for the parties involved.

ADPIAmerican Dairy Products Institute is commited to working with the dairy ingredients industry to ensure strong definitions of ingredients and products so as to support its use and support clean labels and strong nutritional claims to benefit consumers. Review all ingredient and product definitions here.