Dairy Products Category Overview
The Dairy Products category, identified by the numeric ID 428, encompasses a wide range of consumable milk-based items. In the Google product taxonomy, it is situated under the Food, Beverages & Tobacco hierarchy and serves as the destination for products derived from animal milk.
What Belongs in Category 428
This category is designated for standard dairy items and their direct shelf-stable or refrigerated equivalents. Examples from the US market include various types of yogurt, fresh whipping cream, sour cream, and milk powder. Additionally, this category covers lactose-free milk alternatives and specialty creamers intended for coffee or general culinary use, provided they are dairy-based.
What Does Not Belong Here
Products that fall under neighboring categories like Meat, Seafood & Eggs or Frozen Desserts & Novelties should not be assigned this ID. Items such as plant-based tofu or soy-based milk alternatives belong in the Tofu, Soy & Vegetarian Products category, while snacks like cheese-flavored crackers belong in Snack Foods. Furthermore, items categorized as Prepared Foods or items found in Food Gift Baskets are excluded from this specific classification.
Using Subcategories
For better granularity, you should select a subcategory such as Cheese, Butter & Margarine, or Cottage Cheese instead of the top-level Dairy Products category whenever the product specificities allow.
Feed Implementation
You can populate the google_product_category attribute in your feed using either the numeric ID 428 or the full path: Food, Beverages & Tobacco > Food Items > Dairy Products. Remember that this attribute is optional but highly recommended to ensure Google understands your product taxonomy without relying on automated categorization, which can sometimes be inaccurate.