Soy milk? You can’t call it milk says EU

TRENDY dairy substitutes such as almond and soy milk must be renamed, Europe’s top court has ruled – because they do not contain milk from an animal.

The European Court of Justice said customers were being misled, and that products labelled as cheese or butter that did not involve milk from an animal were also being described incorrectly.

It comes after a surge in sales of such products in recent years inspired by the popularity of vegan diets.

The case was referred by a German court after a firm called TofuTown was challenged by a consumer protection group for selling products such as ‘soyatoo tofu butter’ and ‘veggie cheese’. TofuTown claimed the descriptions did not mislead because the fact plants were involved in the production was clear.

But the European judges said the descriptions ‘cannot be legally used to designate a purely plant-based product’. It added: ‘The court explains that the addition of descriptive or clarifying additions indicating the plant origin of the product concerned ... has no influence.’

The ruling will now be interpreted in national courts and could open the way for a challenge in the UK.