Clinton urges FDA to protect
integrity of New York's dairy products

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton called on the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to protect New York and the nation's dairy producers by opposing any changes to "standard of identity" regulations for key dairy products.

Standard of identity regulations define what a given food product is, its name and the ingredients and ratios that are to be used in the production of the food. The FDA is deciding whether to broaden the current standard of identity regulations for certain cheeses, yogurt and ice cream to allow for the use of dry milk protein concentrate (MPC), which is primarily produced overseas. The move threatens New York's dairy farmers who face a tide of cheap MPC imports and consumers who will not be able to identify whether MPCs have been used in their products in place of real milk products. "As more and more milk protein concentrate is imported, the demand for U.S. milk becomes less and less and the risk to consumers from mislabeling becomes greater and greater. We must do everything that we can to protect New York's diary farmers and consumers," Senator Clinton said.

MPC is made by ultra filtering skim milk, which is generally followed by drying until powdered. These products can then be used in the manufacture of other foods such as cheese, nutrition supplements, processed meats and much more.

While the United States levies tariffs on nonfat dry milk, many foreign producers are simply re-blending nonfat dry milk with casein and other dairy proteins to create a product that is labeled as MPC, which is subject to a minimal tariff and are often heavily subsidized by foreign producers. Senator Clinton submitted testimony on the inequity of this practice and her concern for New York dairy farmers when a special panel of international trade officials gathered together this past fall to review the controversy surrounding MPCs.

Senator Clinton and 14 other colleagues have taken a legislative stand on this issue by cosponsoring S.560, a bill to impose tariff-rate quotas on certain casein and milk protein concentrates. In 2002, Senator Clinton also joined with Congressional colleagues in writing a letter to the U.S. Customs Service, to reclassify certain imported milk protein blends that are currently mislabeled as MPC, allowing them to avoid higher tariffs.

Senator Clinton is awaiting the release of the International Trade Commission's report on the MPC issue. She hopes the ITC report will be realistic about the detrimental effects of MPC imports to domestic dairy producers.