The program, unveiled at last month's Dairy Forum, covers claims related to the research behind the Healthy Weight campaign.

"We're encouraging dairy marketers to leverage this exciting and powerful information on weight loss as quickly and effectively as possible," said Clay Hough, IDFA senior vice president and general counsel. "Dairy has the potential to match the impressive records of other foods that have successfully marketed their health benefits, such as red wine, cranberries and the array of the Atkins-friendly products."

Dairy companies must obtain a license before utilizing weight loss claims on packaging, or in advertising and promotional efforts. Since the University of Tennessee owns a patent on some of the key research and DMI has the exclusive rights to the license for that research, dairy companies have to obtain permission to use the claims through the licensing agreement. The organizations say the licenses are being made available "at cost," with fees covering only the legal and management costs related to the licensing program.

The products that qualify include most standardized dairy products excluding frozen desserts.