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[–] 2 points 6 hours ago (6 children)

If it isn't cow milk it shouldn't just be called "milk". Same for cow milk butter, meat, and honey. The majority of consumers expects to get a very specific product when they read those words without clear qualifiers like in "peanut butter" and "goat milk".
We in the EU can be sure that if it is called honey, it's made by actual bees instead of flavored corn syrup. That's a good thing. I like those consumer protection laws preventing companies from scamming consumers even more than they do already.
Just call it "milk replacement", or ingredient + "milk" like in "oat milk".

Btw, I prefer powdered fermented oats as milk replacement because it has a subtle sweetness and tastes great in coffee. If you didn't try that before, give it a chance.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

    Cow milk should have to specified by saying "cow". All other milk is viable to just say milk. Goat milk, oat milk, soy milk, almond milk., etc. All white creamy edible liquid.

    I do feel like any "milk" should have to say clearly what the source is clearly on the box though

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  • [–] 1 point 5 hours ago (1 child)

    Not needed. It's the OG product which dominates the market since literally more than 10 thousand years. Everyone knows what it is and what to expect from it. You will not find a more established product in the west.
    Laws aren't made just to make laws. They need a reason.

    And the moment, milk replacements stop being sold with absolutely insane markups, the OG product will become a niche item anyway. Then it will be marketed to an aging demographic which is too accustomed to its taste to switch with slogans like "Real cow milk like in the good old times". You don't need to force a name change. It will happen automatically as the market switches to replacements.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 hours ago

    It was until the bronze age European culture see, about 3000 years ago, see cows milk over take sheep and goats milk. Various native American cultures had nut milk as a common drink and Asian cultures soy milk dominates. Even in the West drinking cow's milk wasn't common until the temperance movements of 20th century.

    Words evolve, and we should prefer more accurate and inclusive language when we can. If we have to have a law on it, it should be the most universersally accepted language not just one groups preference, because language is just a tool for communication.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 hours ago* (2 children)

    Just call it "milk replacement", or ingredient + "milk" like in "oat milk".

    That would be reasonable, yeah. Every normal person calls it "oat milk". But the dairy industry has lobbied to make that illegal, so now it's generally called "oat drink" on products.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 hours ago (1 child)

    "Drink" is a bit more strict than I would have been. But it's better than "mylk", "mölk", "malk", "milk"... or all the other tries on making it sound like the thing it replaces while still being legally distinct. All I want is being able to quickly pre-filter products by name before reading the list of ingredients.

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