Should We Use ‘Meaty’ Names for Plant-Based Products? – vegconomist
Consumers today can access a plethora of meat- and dairy-free options, with supermarkets offering everything from plant-based sausages to yogurts. However, some organisations and governments have raised concerns regarding how these products are named.
They argue that when animal- and plant-based products share similar labels, consumers cannot differentiate between them. But are consumers confused when plant-based products are labelled using terms traditionally associated with animal-based meat or dairy products?
Food system awareness NGO ProVeg International explores this question in its latest New Food Hub article, examining research and consumer surveys.
Proposed and frozen bans
This issue has been garnering a lot of media attention recently. Globally, countries have been proposing and suspending bans on the use of traditional meat- and dairy-associated terms for plant-based products.
On 10 April, a decree prohibiting plant-based products from using terms such as ‘steak’ was suspended in France. It was due to come into force on 1 May, but the court stated that it had ‘serious doubts’ that the measure could be implemented in light of EU legislation on the provision of food information to consumers.
Other EU Member States that have considered similar restrictions will undoubtedly see the French court ruling as a warning that they could face similar legal challenges because of existing EU legislation.
In South Africa, the High Court in Johannesburg overturned a planned seizure of all plant-based products that use ‘meat-like’ terms in a ruling handed down, also on 10 April.
“Restrictions on the labelling of plant-based food have proliferated around the world so it is great to see two major court rulings that reject the basis on which they are made,” Jasmijn de Boo, Global CEO of ProVeg International, said of the recent France and South Africa rulings.
De Boo added: “Consumers are simply not confused by the labelling of plant-based foods and efforts to restrict the plant-based industry represent a huge waste of time and resources.”
So are consumers confused?
Read the full article to explore the question and uncover ProVeg’s recommendations. You can also contact ProVeg’s expert team at [email protected].
