Ranchers take beef with ‘meatless meat’ to U.S. lawmakers
They sizzle, they bleed and they taste very similar to actual animal flesh — but should alternative meat burgers and other plantbased products that mimic the taste of the real thing be permitted to bear a “meat” label? The U. S. Cattlemen’s Association doesn’t think so.
According to USA Today, the beef industry group is taking measures to prevent alternative proteins from using the term “meat” in their marketing and packaging. With the number of these “meatless meat” products expected to rise in the coming years, the association has filed a petition with the U. S. Department of Agriculture, requesting a sanctioned definition for both “beef ” and “meat.”
Industry disrupters such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods freely use the term “meat” to describe their products, however, which a spokesperson for the association calls “misleading.”
The association isn’ t alone in its efforts to stymie the meat analogue industry through challenging its terminology.
The EU meat industry began lobbying for food label ling changes in the summer of 2017 — asking that words including “bacon,” “chicken nuggets,” and “hamburger” be limited to animal products.
While the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association is preparing for a fight, companies like Maple Leaf Foods and Tyson Foods have already joined the plant- based party. Last year, Maple Leaf acquired Field Roast Grain Meat Co. — producer of vegan meats and dairy products — and Tyson increased its investment in Beyond Meat.
Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, told USA Today: “I think it actually could help us more than it could hurt us because it starts the national dialogue around what really is meat. And if the origin of meat really matters to the consumer.”