Ultra-Processed Foods Definition Elusive

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, aka EPCRA, was created in 1986 to help communities plan for chemical emergencies. It requires industry to report on the storage, use, and release of hazardous substances to federal, state, and local governments. It’s a good law, says NMPF Chief Counsel Clay Detlefsen, but unintended consequences have snared dairy farmers into a decades-long fight against over-regulation. And for those decades, Detlefsen’s been part of every twist and turn, with potential light at the end of the tunnel within the next year. “EPCRA overall I think is a great law. It's just been misconstrued by environmental activists, and they've hijacked a good law for nefarious purposes,” Detlefsen said. “My job is making sure that regulatory agencies don't do stupid things, and yes, it takes literally decades to stop things from happening.”  To learn more about NMPF’s regulatory efforts, check out its quarterly Regulatory Register and sign up for it at nmpf.org/subscribe. 

Even as regulatory and legislative challenges persist at all levels of state government, pro-dairy advocacy is making progress nationwide, two leaders in state dairy policies said in the latest Dairy Defined podcast.“Some farms are struggling. I don't want to diminish what those farms are going through,” Allyson Jones-Brimmer, executive director of the Northeast Dairy Producers Association, said.“But overall, we have elected officials at every level that want to see dairy and agriculture as a whole succeed. Those leaders are making changes and investments in dairy, both at the state and federal level to help farms help set the industry up for success.”Jones-Brimmer is in Washington this week with other state dairy organizations in NMPF’s annual State Dairy Association Summit. She was joined on the podcast Jim Boyle, owner-manager of his family's dairy in Casa Grande, AZ and the leader of the Western States Dairy Producers Association.

What, exactly, is an ultra-processed food? Proposals about, and FDA may be weighing in. But figuring out what a definition should and shouldn’t cover is a difficult task, said Chad Galer, vice president of product innovation and food safety for Dairy Management, Inc.“I think it's a risk that it might be a bit oversimplified,” said Galer, who worked for 16 years at Kraft Foods before joining DMI. “It should be more of a matrixed approach where you are balancing the nutrition and the processing.”Galer discusses some of the health benefits of dairy products that can be affected by differing ultra-processed definitions, including flavored yogurt and cheese.

The greater the variety of milk in schools, including whole, lower-fat and flavored varieties, the greater the benefits to students, dairy farmers are telling lawmakers as they meet them on Capitol Hill.“I think it's awesome that students and kids have a choice. Giving them more choices just gets more milk out there for them, and the benefits that it has, and the flavor that it has that kids enjoy,” said Lauren Schwartzbeck, a schoolteacher and dairy farmer who farms near Union Bridge, MD, and a member of Maola Local Dairies, in the latest episode of the Dairy Defined podcast, released today. “I think by giving them those choices and by providing that product to them, that can only do great things, not only just for our dairy industry, but for these kids as well.”Schwartzbeck was joined by Prairie Farms Chairman and NMPF Executive Committee Member Frank Doll, whose dairy is near Greenville, IL, on the podcast. The two farmers discuss the benefits of adding whole milk to school meal menus as well as the value of flavored milks, which are a popular source of student nutrition. Doll also talks about some of dairy’s priorities as farmers descend on Washington next month for its annual fly-in. 

Stewardship is a deeply engrained value among dairy farmers that’s also good for economic success, NMPF’s Nicole Ayache says in the latest Dairy Defined Podcast.Ayache, who leads the National Dairy FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) Programs’ Environmental Stewardship initiative, notes how sound management of resources and a focus on efficiency has boosted dairy productivity and bottom lines, even as it reflects the dedication of the farmers themselves to serving consumers. “A lot of stewardship is about efficiency” – but it’s also more than that, Ayache said. “Anyone who chats with farmers know that because you can hear every time you talk to them about their farm and their choices, you can hear their passion for the animals and the land and their care and the nutrition they provide to our country and the world.” 

The United States is negotiating bilateral trade agreements at a frenetic pace across the globe. Dairy’s key to success has been a proactive approach that gets the fundamentals of industry needs right, said Shawna Morris, an executive vice president with NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, in a Dairy Defined Podcast released today. “On the whole, a lot of good stuff coming down the pipe,” said Morris, specifically citing agreements with Indonesia and Taiwan as holding potential for significant market expansion, for dairy, which saw its second-best year for exports in 2025. Both in advising the U.S. government on agreements and maintaining gains overseas, NMPF/USDEC trade efforts are matching the federal government’s in its intensity, she said.  “Our focus really is on, how do we make sure that we're keeping the doors open, and also looking at some of the policy tools that can be leveraged in order to expand consumption or dairy access more broadly,” Morris said. 

Low milk prices are a grim reality for dairy producers in the near term, with growing trade and federal action serving as remedies to get farmers through tough times, NMPF economists said in a Dairy Defined Podcast.“There really is no quick fix to get back into balance,” said Will Loux, Senior Vice President for Global Economic Affairs and the head of the joint economics team for NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “I do think there are real ways that, from the Whole Milk to Healthy Kids Act, to the National Milk Exports and Trade program, to opportunities to beef up Dairy Revenue Protection, to making sure folks are utilizing that program or Dairy Margin Coverage. There are ways to help, I think, mitigate the pain that we see dairy farmers feeling today from a policy perspective.” Loux is joined in the podcast by Stephen Cain, Vice President for Economic Policy and Market Analysis.

New Dietary Guidelines for Americans are encouraging to dairy in ways that are consistent with the latest science and consumer needs for high-quality, affordable nutrition, NMPF Director of Regulatory Affairs Miquela Hanselman said in a Dairy Defined Podcast.“We turned out pretty well in the guidelines,” Hanselman said in the podcast released today. “We hit the three servings. Dairy is a distinct group. Full-fat dairy is recommended repeatedly throughout the guidelines, which everyone was very excited to see.”Hanselman also outlines how these guidelines came to be, and what work remains to be done in the next edition of the twice-a-decade guidelines. 

History may not rhyme, but it echoes, and for all the challenges dairy has faced, a few key areas have continued to resurface throughout Chris Galen’s nearly three decades in dairy.“A lot of what I had worked on at the start of my career, and also now in the last few years of my career at National Milk, has been on milk pricing, in particular federal milk marketing order reforms,” said Galen, NMPF’s longtime communications leader and the current Senior Vice President of Member Services and Governance, in a Dairy Defined podcast. “A lot of what we have to do, has to do with just making certain that farmers are paid fairly.”Galen reflects on the changes of dairy’s structure in the 21st century, the continued importance of family farms to dairy, and the evolution of media that has made it easier to serve members while getting dairy’s message to a broader audience. 

NMPF elected Indiana dairy farmer Brian Rexing as its 15th chairman at its annual meeting last week, succeeding Randy Mooney of Rogersville, MO, who had served in the position for the past 17 years.This week’s Dairy Defined Podcast is taken from their remarks at the meeting in Arlington, TX, with Mooney reflecting on his tenure and dairy’s future and Rexing outlining his hope for the years to come.