Milk should be milk

It never caused me much difficulty that soya based products used words like milk to describe what they are seeking to replace.

Many words have been stretched, even abused, through history – from democratic to natural – but few people have been misled.

Water is another word applied to a range of products, notably cosmetics as well as beverages. I only protested (and won) when a boiled sweet was marketed as offering hydration benefits.

Yet I was quietly pleased when the European Court of Justice ruled last month that use of words such as milk and cheese should be treated with more care.

It seems the ruling was not as categoric as some press reports made out. Coconut milk and almond milk are among the exceptions, but the principle has been asserted and I think it is a good one.