VEGAN ‘ BACON’ OR PORKY PRODUCT? MOCK-MEAT LABELLING UNDER FIRE

Concerned that plant- based meats are misleading consumers, the EU meat industry is lobbying for food labelling changes, Munchies reports.

Echoing arguments being made by dairy industries elsewhere, European producers say t hat only animal products should be dubbed bacon, chicken nuggets, hamburger and meat. They’re asking that these names be removed from the packaging of meat analogs.

“Numerous f oodstuffs suitable for vegetarians or vegans derive their sales from names which relate to meat, animal species, specific meat cuts and/or meat products,” Robert Volut, president of Clitravi ( association of EU meat producers), said in a statement to Munchies. “We believe that this contravenes the rules relating to clear and unambiguous consumer information.”

In Europe, dairy substitutes — such as cashew cheese, soy milk and coconut yogurt — are already prohibited from using words like cheese, milk and yogurt on their labels. These terms are reserved solely for products made from “mammary secretions.”

The EU producers say that mock- meat labels can still include the format or style of meat, just not the meat itself: “vegan burger” instead of “vegan hamburger”; “vegan nugget” rather than “chicken nugget”; “soy breakfast strips” in place of “bacon.”

As our appetite for meat substitutes i ncreases, so does the degree of industry opposition. Fans of Field Roast products will r emember a related labelling controversy in 2014, which resulted in the company’s sausages and roasts being temporarily stripped from Canadian grocery s t ore shelves.

The complaint against the Washington vegan food company was made to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency by a competitor, saying that simulated meat must have the same nutritional profile as animal- derived meat. ( The issue was resolved the following year, and Field Roast products are once again available in Canada.

“It is quite simple — meat is a product that comes from animals. Any use of the word in any other context is deceiving the public,” Nick Allen, British Meat Processors Association CEO, told Munchies.

“In a funny sort of a way, when these people want to use the word meat, it is as acknowledgment that there is no substitute.”