§ 50-E — Legislative finding and declaration of policy

§ 50-e. Legislative finding and declaration of policy. It is hereby\ndeclared that cream, half and half, milk and mixtures of milk and cream\nhave long been accepted by the consuming public; recognized as wholesome\nand nutritious articles of food, and their composition generally\nunderstood by consumers.\n Advances in food technology have resulted in the development of a\nvariety of products for similar usage including dairy foods of lower\nbutterfat and blends made with vegetable oils and with proteins from\nsources other than dairy products; products which are so similar in\nappearance, odor and taste that they are difficult to differentiate from\ndairy products. It is further declared to be the purpose of this article\nto promote honesty and fair dealing in the interest of consumers, to\ninsure fair competition with a highly regulated dairy industry which is\nof considerable economic importance to the economy of the state and to\nprevent confusion and deception in the sale of such foods by\nestablishing definitions and standards of identity for such foods, and\nby providing for rules and regulations which will effect their orderly\nmarketing and insure similar sanitary standards.\n It is the further intent of the legislature, in view of the well known\nnutritional qualities of whole milk (including standardized milk) and\nother dairy products that the burden of proof of nutritional claims of\nproducts offered for sale to consumers which have the appearance, odor\nand taste of whole milk (including standardized milk) or other dairy\nproducts is placed on the persons or corporations offering the product\nor products for sale to consumers.\n