Standards of Identity and Imitation Milk Labeling

The stated motivation for identity standards is to protect consumers from misleading claims and reduce confusion. However, identity standards with little flexibility may increase consumer confusion while limiting the ability of firms to differentiate products. This study focuses on “imitation” labeling requirements for skim milk without added vitamins. Data were collected with two online surveys distributed to a population where litigation over the imitation labeling requirement occurred, Pennsylvania, and a more general population, U.S. Results indicate that labels with the word imitation would cause uncertainty or communicate that a product contains nondairy milk; labels that provided more context performed better.

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Suggested citation: McFadden, B. R. (2022). Standards of identity and imitation milk labeling. Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, 1(4), 419–434, https://doi.org/10.1002/jaa2.35