Community Chat

[BellaPaprika]

There is a TON of misinformation in the other thread on this subject starting with the OP. There is apparently a lot of confusion over this issue even in the media.

As usual snopes.com has the lowdown:

"Back on March 16, 2009, the International Dairy Foods Association and the National Milk Producers Federation jointly submitted a petition to the FDA requesting that the FDA "amend the standard of identity for milk" to allow the use of "any safe and suitable" sweetener in optional flavoring ingredients used in milk.

What this means is not, as has commonly been claimed, that the dairy industry is seeking permission to add artificial sweeteners to flavored milk (they can already do that), or that they are attempting to change the rules so that they don't have to disclose the presence of artificial sweeteners in the ingredients list on milk containers.

What these groups are requesting is that they be allowed to sell milk which includes artificial sweeteners without being required to include prominent front label notices on the packaging describing the product as "reduced calorie" or "reduced sugar".