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October 5, 2018 CapitalPress.com 9 FDA seeks consumer comment on plant-based dairy substitutes By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press FDA Commissioner Scott Gott- lieb has taken the first step in his in- tention to enforce the agency’s stan- dard of identity for dairy products, addressing the labeling of plant- based foods with dairy terms. FDA has concerns the labeling of those products might lead consum- ers to believe they have the same key nutritional attributes as dairy prod- ucts, he said in issuing a request for information in the Federal Register on Sept. 27. Those products are sometimes packaged similarly to dairy products and sold in the dairy section of gro- cery stores, he said. “However, these plant-based products may not be satisfactory Australia, WSU work together on ag robotics By DAN WHEAT Capital Press substitutes for all uses of dairy. And some may not be nutritionally equiv- alent,” he said in a press statement. cerns about how these plant-based products are inappropriately market- ed to consumers,” he said. FDA’s request for public com- ment recognizes many of the same issues NMPF has brought to light over the last four decades — that plant-based products are packaged, merchandized and sold in the same way as real dairy foods, yet provide fewer nutrients and therefore cannot be considered suitable substitutes, he said. However, NMPF’s concerns are not just about nutritional equiva- lence and the implications for public health, he said. “A standardized dairy food, like milk, yogurt or butter, is defined by its inherent characteristics including how and when it’s sourced and its sensory attributes and performance properties,” he said. The American Dairy Coalition also appreciates Gottlieb’s action. “Consumers rely on product la- bels to form expectations of the products they purchase,” Laurie Fischer, the coalition’s CEO, told Capital Press. It’s important to ensure consum- ers can quickly, clearly and accu- rately compare and contrast the nu- tritional content of the products they choose to feed their families, she said. “While plant-based drinks may provide something that looks similar to dairy products, their nutritional content is far from equal,” she said. In addition, a variety of other in- gredients with unfamiliar names are routinely added to most of these al- ternative drinks, she said. FFA Ag Expo offers valuable lessons for young and old By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press Now that the Meridian FFA Elementary Ag Expo has been around southwest Idaho for 11 years, many of the high school students giving instructions to first-graders remember what it was like to be on the receiving end. Courtney Marshall, Me- ridian FFA reporter and event co-chair, recalls attending the expo at Meridian High School when she was in first grade. “It was a huge highlight of our year,” she said. The expo, a field trip for all first-graders in the West Ada School District, draws more than 3,000 students, plus their teachers and some parents. It also features an evening event for the public. Introducing food pro- duction makes sense in first grade because students for the first time combine infor- mation-based and hands-on learning in a full school day, Brad Carlson/Capital Press said Cassidey Plum, event chair and Meridian FFA First-graders pet just-weaned pigs at the Meridian FFA Elementary Ag Expo Sept. 25 at Meridian, Idaho, High School. chapter vice president. dents also must be ready As for lessons the high “Agriculture is easily over- said. “And they love animals. with peers. looked, but if you implement They love being able to see How to interact with and to teach or even entertain school students learn in FFA it in the classrooms at an ear- and interact with them.” stay safe around the animals first-graders for short peri- and in class, “now they are ly age, it will stay with them The expo benefits FFA is continuously discussed ods, like when they are wait- actually able to apply it, pass throughout their educational students as well as visiting with the first-grade students. ing in line to enter the main it on and teach first-graders,” Ball said. careers,” she said. Earlier, she first-grade teachers, said Marshall said FFA stu- venue. gave a tour of the expo to Ida- Michelle Ball, who teaches ho Agriculture in the Class- agriculture at Meridian and room board members. Centennial high schools. “All are excited,” Mar- Teachers get material they shall said Sept. 25, the first can incorporate into lessons, day of the three-day expo. and FFA students working in Miriam Lott, who teach- the expo learn skills not eas- es first grade at Pioneer Ele- ily replicated in a classroom, mentary School, liked what she said. They include orga- she saw of the event and her nizing and running the event, seeing a need and fulfilling students’ response. “Because there is a lot to it, teaching young students see, they are interested,” she and advising and cooperating 40-5-3/104 PULLMAN, Wash. — To speed robotic advancements that help farmers grow food with fewer resources, scien- tists at Washington State Uni- versity and Australia’s Uni- versity of Technology Sydney have partnered to form the new Joint Center for Agricul- tural Robotics. The partnership joins WSU scientists’ expertise in innovative automation solu- tions for farms and orchards with pre-eminent research in robotics at the University of Technology Sydney’s (UTS) Centre for Autonomous Sys- tems. Through innovations like apple-picking robots, sen- sor-driven high efficiency irri- gation systems and crop-sens- ing drones, discoveries in agricultural automation could boost productivity, save labor, conserve natural resources and reduce dependence on chemicals. Australian scientists toured WSU’s Center for Precision and Automated Ag- ricultural Systems and signed an agreement for the new joint center. The universities have been exchanging ideas and discussing collaboration since 2015. The new center could spur team projects, joint work- shops, conferences and publi- cations, exchange of students and faculty and joint applica- tions for funding. Associated Press File FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is seeking information on the nutritional content of plant-based drinks that label themselves “milk.” “We’re interested to know if con- sumers are aware of and understand the nutritional characteristics and differences among these products — and between these products and dairy — when they make dietary choices for themselves and their families,” he said. National Milk Producers Federa- tion, which has long tried to get FDA to enforce its labeling regulations on imitation dairy products, welcomes the agency’s action. Hopefully, FDA will finally cur- tail the misleading labeling practices of plant-based foods imitating real dairy products, Jim Mulhern, NMPF president and CEO, said in a press statement. “We are pleased that after all these years of engagement with FDA, the agency is finally addressing our con- WE SPECIALIZE IN BULK BAGS! 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