WASHINGTON, January 15, 2003 - The National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Tuesday, tracking both corporate and federal accountability. The request seeks specific action steps Kraft will implement to rectify current FDA violations, particularly the use of milk protein concentrate (MPC) and fraudulent labeling.

On Dec. 18, 2002, in light of grassroots pressure, the FDA's Virginia Connelly issued a warning letter to Kraft's CEO Betsy Holden stating that MPC use in products such as Kraft Singles and Velveeta violated FDA standards of identity.

Connelly demanded in the letter that "Kraft should take prompt action to correct all of the violations noted" and "failure to promptly correct these violations may result in regulatory action without further notice." Thus far, Kraft's only response involved re-labeling these items from "cheese food" to "cheese product."

"We have standards for a reason," said John Bunting, New York State dairy farmer. "So the butcher doesn't put his thumb on the scale. Instead of adhering to the standards, Kraft is avoiding the standards to enhance its bottom line."

Family farm advocates identified unregulated importation of MPC from as far away as Belarus, New Zealand, and India as a major reason for depressed domestic milk prices. In 2000 alone the U.S. imported 52 million metric tons of MPC-displacing approximately 2 billion pounds of domestic milk demand.

The MPC issue is especially relevant on the eve of a new "free trade" deal with Australia and New Zealand congressional debate. This latest proposal would open the floodgates to MPC, undercutting U.S. dairy farmers even further. Meanwhile, U.S. taxpayers have to foot the bill as the USDA Commodity Credit Corporation buys up "surplus" domestic milk, adding to its 1.1 billion-pound nonfat dry-milk stockpile.