Vegan food and drink products are causing quite the stir. There remain ongoing debates about what makes milk “milk”, cheese “cheese”, or meat “meat”. Are the terms reserved for animal-derived secretions/ body parts that have been consumed by humans for thousands of years? Or is it a result of the meat and dairy industry’s persuasive lobbying efforts as they get worried about falling dairy sales and the growth in plant-based milk (now representing 1 in 3 Brits according to this Mintel survey)?
The Powerful Business Of Lobbying
In the US, industry lobbying efforts are successfully resulting in bans on terms used for plant-based alternative products. In 2018, Missouri banned the term meat to describe food products that don’t come from an animal, resulting in imprisonment or a fine of up to $1,000 for brands who continue to use the words to describe their plant-based alternative products.
What’s Happening In Europe?
Similarly, in October 2020, the European Parliament voted in favour of Amendment 171, which bans dairy-related words on plant-based alternative products, including terms such as ‘oat milk’, ‘vegan cheese’, or even ‘milk-free’. The legislation even goes a step further, proposing a ban on any comparison of the environmental impacts between plant-based and dairy products. However, in May 2021, the European Parliament rejected Amendment 171, widely viewed as a victory for the environment!
If the legislation would have passed, comparing the carbon emissions between oat milk and dairy milk would be forbidden. The proposed argument behind the legislation surrounds the issue of consumer mislabelling and confusion, i.e that consumers mistakenly eat and drink plant-based alternatives, thinking they were animal products! However, this argument contradicts research, such as that from the University of Louisville, which finds that “consumers are no more likely to think that plant-based products come from an animal if the product’s name incorporates words traditionally associated with animal products than if it does not”.
What About Other Food Industries?
This debate has highlighted that other food industry product labels may be deemed misleading. Peanut butter isn’t butter, quince cheese isn’t cheese and the cream/milk of coconut isn’t cream or milk. To be consistent, if terms such as meat, dairy, milk, butter, cheese or eggs are banned for plant-based alternative products, shouldn’t they also be banned for these other foods?
Not all food industries have powerful lobbyists supporting them, attempting to push legislation through parliament. The meat, dairy and egg industries have the power and money to lobby for change and that’s exactly what they’re doing at the detriment to consumer choice.
Consumer Choice
Here at Plant Milc, we believe that product terminology should be left up to consumers, as has been done throughout history. We struggle to empathise with legislators with their ‘misleading labels’ claims, and highly doubt people consume plant-based alternatives, thinking they are animal products. Nevertheless, the continuous attempts to silence the alternative protein industries are unlikely to succeed. The current growth in alternative meat, dairy, and egg markets is explosive and tactics used by the animal-based industry to sabotage this success highlight their desperation and fear.
Want to learn more about plant-based milk alternatives? Explore the range of healthy and delicious plant-based alternatives on offer!
Leave A Comment