The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has dismissed a court case claiming that Blue Diamond’s almond milk is deceptively mislabeled and confusing for consumers.
This decision backs up a ruling by the United States District Court for the Central District of California, which dismissed the case made by Cynthia Painter in May 2017.
The plaintiff insisted that Blue Diamond’s almond milk should be labeled as “imitation milk,” in a weak argument that alleges consumers are not smart enough to distinguish between dairy-based and plant-based milk.
The complainant alleged that the company “deceptively markets its almond beverages as nutritionally equivalent or superior to dairy milk when, in fact, almond beverages are nutritionally inferior to dairy milk.”
Thankfully, the courts did not buy into this argument, acknowledging that consumers are aware of the products they purchase and putting a quick end to this ridiculous case.
This case is seen as a desperate attempt by the dairy industry to stifle the growing demand for plant-based alternatives. The court docket itself states that while sales of almond milk increased by around 40% between 2013-2014, dairy milk sales declined.
Rather than attribute this demand to a growing ethical and moral consumer drive, they claim that it’s because consumers think almond milk is the same thing as cow’s milk.
The memorandum released by the court of appeals concisely debunks the argument, stating:
“Painter’s complaint does not plausibly allege that a reasonable consumer would be deceived into believing that Blue Diamond’s almond milk products are nutritionally equivalent to dairy milk based on their package labels and advertising. The district court correctly concluded that “[n]o reasonable consumer could be misled by [Blue Diamond’s] unambiguous labeling or factually accurate nutritional statements.”
Although it’s reassuring to see the courts take a stand against such claims, plant-based dairy alternatives are still under the spotlight of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In September 2018, the FDA issued a notice inviting public comment on “Use of the Names of Dairy Foods in the Labeling of Plant-Based Products,” targeting things like vegan cheese, milk, and yogurt. The agency state that they are concerned that consumers may not understand the nutritional differences between dairy and non-dairy milks.
There maybe 3 almonds in the container and tapioca/water. Make your own substitute for milk if milk hurts you. I take Osteoprocare instead of dairy since dairy gave me seizures etc. People hurt by gluten may have problems with dairy.
It’s good news!
Milk is from cows, idiots! Get rid of the judge(s) who made this stupid decision!
Look up the word, sir. Now who is the stupid one?
Hmmm, looks like the dairy industry is getting both desperate & frightened, because more & more consumers are realizing that each glass of cow milk involves tremendous amounts of pain, rape & torture. GO VEGAN, for the planet, for your health & most definitely for the animals!!!
The farmers think the public are as stupid as they are, to think we do not know
the difference. We do know and we know that dairy is cruel, causes cancers,
and lots of other ailments, decreases our immune systems as the cows are fed hormones
and antibiotics, plastic and other foreign bodies. The farmers need to wake up as we
the public are waking up to their underhanded tactics and the barbaric treatment of
Gods creatures.
For once the courts did the right thing.
go vegan! GO VEGAN!
GREAT NEWS! — GOOD! — THERE IS A GOD! — Define “milk.”
The labeling of Blue Diamond’s almond milk is quite clear. I am far more concerned about the impetus to change labels of protein bars containing casein to read “contains milk”. Casein is a migraine trigger; milk is not. Australia has the USA beat when it comes to food labeling laws. In Australia if a corporation misrepresents on their food label what is actually in their processed food, and a consumer becomes ill as a result, the corporation is liable. Legislation there works in favor of the consumer, NOT in favor of the corporation. (I heard that first hand from a lady who owned a confectionary company in Australia.)
Great news, great decision, of course it’s milk! Any liquid squeezed from anything is milk. The dairy industry only shows its justified fear of humane, non-animal milks taking over their market, and that would only be a good thing, so they should get on board like Lucerne did and start making their own plant milks, although Lucerne should ditch the cow abuse entirely and go all vegan. https://www.fooducate.com/app#!page=product&id=543D3C20-308E-04E3-4173-95923B412651
When I see the dairy industry ads on TV saying, “Come back to real,” I have to say, “Yeah, real cruelty.”
By your reckoning then Laura, all vegetable and fruit “juices” then should be re-named “milks”! A lot of these milk “alternatives” contain a lot of crap like flavours and other additives with numbers. Not to mention that there would be very little in the way of almonds etc in there. It usually is mostly water or something else.
They don’t contain abused animals which is THE most important point Ms. Kosmak.