Common sense rules on food labeling would make life easier for shoppers, boost UK businesses and help the country hit its net zero goals, a report published by the Alternative Proteins Association (APA) has revealed. 

Lobbyists for the multinational meat and dairy industry are demanding a crackdown on terms like “soy milk,” “veggie burger” and “vegan cheese,” claiming they dupe shoppers into thinking they contain animal products despite being widely used and understood by consumers for many years.

Notably, the plant-based sectors are accelerating, with data from Innova Market Insights highlighting 6.8% growth globally (CAGR 2021-2023). Some subcategories are gaining momentum, with fish and seafood substitutes growing 68% CAGR between 2020 and 2022, soy and tofu products accelerating by 60%, poultry substitutes by 46% and red meat and pork substitutes at 42%. 

Groundless concerns?
But research by the APA – the UK trade body for the plant-based, cultivated and recombinant protein sector – warns that such concerns about using traditional meat and dairy terminology are “completely groundless.”

Far from helping consumers, the report shows that removing familiar and widely-used phrases from packaging would confuse shoppers, making it harder for them to make informed choices when purchasing food items.

But the report warns that further unnecessary red tape would create new obstacles for British start-ups and scaling businesses, forcing them to navigate costly bureaucratic restrictions and potentially driving them overseas or out of business altogether. 

In the US, for instance, regulators recently issued common sense guidance allowing plant-based drinks to use the word “milk,” determining consumers are not confused by terms such as “oat milk.”

“US regulators trust American consumers to know that oat milk doesn’t come from cows, so why do their UK counterparts assume British shoppers lack such common sense?” says Jeremy Coller, president of the APA.  

“The APA calls for common sense labeling that reflects 21st-century language use and food choices, not more red tape that threatens to confuse consumers and strangle innovative British start-ups.”

However, in February, the US government made recommendations that plant-based milk should carry a label pointing out the nutritional difference between dairy milk and alt-milk. Officials suggested a voluntary label reform that could see brands specifically saying cow milk has a “better” nutritional profile than milk made from soy, coconut, oat, almond, and other plant-based ingredients.

This came at the heels of Food Ingredients First reporting that ProVeg International was fighting “plant-based censorship” as the UK government considered restrictions for non-dairy terminology. The controversy surrounding what names should be allowed for plant-based products heated up in January amid claims that the UK government was considering banning dairy descriptor names.

Making food labels transparent 
With British consumers already protected by labeling rules that require detailed information on ingredients and nutrition, the APA study makes a series of recommendations for regulators to make the system even more accurate, transparent and fair.

These include; alternative protein products should be able to use meat and dairy denominations like “milk,” “burgers,” “fish,” and “eggs,” as well as derivatives such as “creamy” or “cheesy,” provided they have an appropriate prefix, suffix or qualifier such as “not,” “alternative,” etc. 

Many dairy-associated terms are currently not allowed in the EU. These should be allowed so long as they have an appropriate prefix, suffix, or qualifier. Examples of product names that could be acceptable include “chicken-less nuggets,” “beef-style burgers,” and “not milk.”

Alternative protein products should ensure that consumers are not misled by accurately reflecting the nature of the product and not implying that it contains animal-derived ingredients. 

This can be done by clearly stating the products’ ingredients, for instance, “oat milk” or “plant-based burger.”

Finally, alternative protein companies should ensure that a prominent modifier or label is visible on the packaging, for example, “plant-based” or “alternative protein.” This will help consumers understand that the product is a meat, fish, dairy, or egg alternative rather than a conventional animal-based product.

This is not the first time this week that vegan food labeling has come into the spotlight. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute also published a report outlining that the lack of legal definitions for vegan food potentially puts people with allergies at risk and causes confusion for consumers and businesses alike.

Earlier this year, the association called on the UK government to proactively support the alternative protein industry after research found a strong appetite among English consumers for plant-based meat alternatives.