Dairy Labeling

Ohio Department of Agriculture's proposed rule on dairy labeling that became effective May 22, 2008.  Dairy product labels must be in compliance with this new rule no later than 120 days after the effective date of the rule.  

The rule requires dairy product labels must include, along with any permissible production claim about the use of rbST, a statement regarding the United States Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) determination that no significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rbST-supplemented and nonrbST-supplemented cows. The contiguous FDA production disclaimer must be no smaller than seven point font, in addition to previously outlined requirements. The rule also provides that "compositional absence claims" cannot be made on a dairy product label as such claims are either not provable or relate to the presence of substances which may not legally be present in milk.