At least four states have either passed or are considering laws banning companies from using the word "rice" in their marketing unless their products contain actual rice—legal measures supported by a group representing rice growers but opposed by an association for the plant-based foods market.

A growing number of food products aimed at health-conscious consumers are using "rice" on their packaging. One of the more popular products is riced cauliflower.

But the trend doesn't sit well with the USA Rice Federation, which believes the marketing confuses consumers. It has supported legislation in states such as Louisiana to prevent using the word "rice" unless the product is made from rice, according to the news site Pacific Standard.

However, the Plant Based Foods Association argues the bans were created to protect traditional agricultural industries.

"Consumers are not confused, they know exactly what they are buying and are choosing plant-based alternatives for a variety of reasons: health, environmental concerns, ethical reasons and taste," the group wrote to the sponsor of the Louisiana bill. http://bit.ly/2ZSPlv2

USA Rice is arguing that "rice is a grain, not a shape." Michael Klein, USA Rice vice president of domestic promotion, said industry groups would be OK with "riced cauliflower" but not "cauliflower rice." Ricing is a food-preparation technique of pushing cooked potatoes or other vegetables through a tool with small holes, such as a sieve or ricer.

The battle mirrors a federal-level fight over the labeling of milk. Diary producers object to the use of the word "milk" on products that contain no milk from cows, such as almond milk. The International Dairy Foods Association has lobbied the Food and Drug Administration to restrict the use of the term on packaging.

As for the USA Rice, the group pointed to the FDA's announcement last year to draft rules on "milk" labeling as potentially benefiting its fight to make sure foods labeled "riced" contain actual rice.

"At its core, our position on rice pretenders is, I think, the same as the dairy industry's on their imposters: they say almonds don't produce milk; we say rice is a grain, not a shape," Michael Klein, USA Rice vice president of domestic promotion, said in a 2018 statement. "We're both right, and while there is room in the marketplace for all these other products, they should be called what they are, not what they emulate."

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