For years, the dairy industry has been trying to get the manufacturers of non-dairy beverages to stop calling their products “milk.”

You’ve seen them in the store, alternative non-dairy beverages of all kinds — soy milk, oat milk, almond milk, hemp milk.

None of these are really milk.

According to “The Agriculture Dictionary” by Ray V. Herren and Roy L. Donahue, milk is “the natural whitish or cream-colored liquid discharged by the mammary glands of mammals.” By that definition, soy “milk” and other types of drinks made from nuts and other crops would not qualify.

Biology. It’s that simple. But, nothing is simple in a world where eschewing biological conventions has become the norm.

Now, two senators from states with healthy dairy industries — Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. — have introduced legislation that would codify commonsense.

The DAIRY PRIDE Act of 2023 would prohibit the mislabeling of non-dairy products made from nuts, seeds, plants and algae with dairy terms such as milk, yogurt or cheese.

Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, says the legislation is necessary to eliminate the “proven confusion among consumers created when plant-based beverages steal dairy terms to make their products appear healthier than they really are.”

We suspect the nutritional value of any given foodstuff is a mystery to most consumers. They know what they like, and it’s a happy coincidence when what they like is also packed with vitamins and other nutrients.

Milk is packed with calcium, protein, phosphorus, amino acids and vitamin D. Milk, and the products derived from it, are relatively cheap, readily available and can be combined with other foods to provide the basis of a healthful and tasty diet.

But, milk isn’t for everyone. It contains sugars that some find difficult to digest and fats that some should avoid. Other consumers have made a choice to avoid all foods from animals.

Plant-based alternatives have their own nutritional advantages and disadvantages. They aren’t for everyone either, and they are not milk.

Nonetheless, by using the word “milk” and other industry terms to describe their products, the manufacturers of these alternatives are trading on the good reputation built over decades by the nation’s dairy farmers.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Perhaps. But, it’s also disingenuous.