New regulations for vegetarian products coming
● New regulations for vegetarian products are on the cards after the high court set aside the government’s decision to prohibit plantbased food from being labelled as meat burgers, sausages or chicken.
Last year, the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) successfully interdicted the Food Safety Agency (FSA), an arm of the department of land reform & rural development, from confiscating plant-based meat products from shelves of retailers around the country pending the outcome of the review of the decision.
It said this week that in March the South Gauteng High Court reviewed and set aside the seizure and the decision prohibiting meat analogue products from having labelling similar to processed-meat products.
The department described non-meat products as meat substitute, mock meat, faux meat or imitation meat.
Plant-based foods are gaining popularity as consumers opt for healthier eating.
The department’s spokesperson, Reggie Ngcobo, said the process for new regulations has already begun and all the industry concerns will be looked into.
He said the high court order “provides the needed opportunity for affected stakeholders to engage in the development or enhancement of a regulatory framework that would remove any misinterpretation of the existing regulation in relation to the sale of processed meat and raw processed meat products”.
Ngcobo added that the department is also “alive to the fact there is an urgent need” to develop regulations relating to meat analogue which will require compositional standards and a unique naming convention suited to such products. Affected stakeholders are encouraged to make appropriate proposals in this regard, he said.
Neo Momodu, executive head for legal, regulatory and stakeholder engagement at the CGCSA, said the industry has, through the council, been advocating for the department to initiate the process for the development of regulations specifically aimed at meat analogue products.
“Plant-based products are increasingly becoming part of the food systems, which is why it is important for discussions to take place between key stakeholders (government, manufacturers, retailers, industry associations, etc) that will shape a regulatory environment that is specific to meat analogues,” she said.
Donovan Will, director of plant-based foods lobby group ProVeg South Africa, said the organisation supports regulation that is “nuanced and appropriate to plant-based analogues, as a newer niche which is still being manifested on our local market.
“There is still a lot of opportunity for innovation and entrepreneurship in this industry, despite there already being some major players, which will create jobs and be of economic benefit to South Africa,” he said.
Will said the plant-based meat industry is still in its infancy and it’s understandable that there is some confusion about it.
“Regulating a new industry can be complicated and challenging, particularly as it slots into the food and agriculture sector. But given the undeniable benefits, ProVeg sees this as an opportunity to leverage our international expertise and work with businesses and the government to ensure the successful and sensible regulation of these products and grow the industry as a bedrock for healthier alternatives and a job provider,” he said.
According to Hill, this disagreement over food product nomenclature is not unique to SA and is now being debated in the global food industry — notably in France, Italy and Spain — as lobbyists for traditional meat and other animal products “scamper to mount their resistance to the steadily growing market share of the plant-based sector while more consumers adopt plant-rich and flexitarian diets”.
Commenting on the court ruling, Momodu said it was an important victory for the industry because it “validates and sets a precedent that prohibits government and regulators from acting beyond their powers”.
Though the department has, in terms of the Agricultural Products Act of 1990, control over the sale and export of certain agricultural products, meat analogues do not fall within the ambit envisaged or provided for in the act.
The CGCSA argued that there was no provision in the regulations that entitled the FSA or anyone else to inspect, classify or regulate meat analogues since such products are expressly excluded from existing regulations.
“It was therefore unclear what legal or otherwise instrument was planned to be used to enforce the seizures.”
When the department communicated its decision to seize the products from shelves, trade was affected, said Momodu.
“Companies pulled products off the shelves and some SMMEs suffered losses at the time. The court case highlighted the fact that meat analogues are an important alternative and that there is a need to preserve an industry that is growing jobs, investment and alternative [choice for the consumer],” she said.