Commodity watch by policy officer Sarah Morrell
At the most recent Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) legislation committee meeting, members expressed frustration at the labelling of plant- based products using meat terms such as ‘bacon’, ‘steak’ and ‘goujon.’ In addition, to the volume of advertisements for meat alternatives seen on our screens over the last month.
Currently there are no ‘meat-related’ legislation bans and meat terms don’t have the same level of legislative protections as dairy products. In 2017 the European Court of Justice, reserved use of the term “milk” only for milk of animal origin. Furthermore, except where expressly provided, EU law reserves the use of the term’s “cream”, “butter”, “cheese” and “yoghurt” for milk-based products only.
The UFU would like to see labelling legislation revised to further protect customary and traditional meat terms. The UFU believe terms that describe specific proteins such as chicken, or chicken style, beef, lamb, pork or a specific cut of meat like a steak should be reserved for meat products only.
For a product to be in breach of the labelling regulations such as the General Food Regulations 2004 and the Food Safety Act 1990, it must be classed as misleading to a customer. The difficulty comes with trying to prove to Trading Standards Agency that the product has in fact misled the average consumer. For the most part it is always clear which products are plant based and which are not. However, retailers are now moving meat alternative products away from ‘vegetarian and vegan’ sections into more prominent locations such as the meat aisle. A growing and more prominent position instore places a greater responsibility on manufacturers to provide clear labelling for the wider customer base. This needs to be enforced under general food law. Should members have concerns with the labelling of plant based products, the UFU encourage them to report these to the Food Standards Agency or the Advertising Standards Agency.
January saw the return of ‘Veganuary’ an annual challenge run by a UK non-profit organisation that promotes veganism by encouraging people to follow a vegan lifestyle for the month of January. Since its creation it would appear that more and more retailers have jumped on the bandwagon and used January as a key month to push sales of plant based products.
Meat, milk and eggs are all good sources of protein, vitamins and minerals and form part of balance diet. Not only that, the Northern Ireland (NI) agricultural sector produces a wide range of these high-quality foods, all of which are produced to the highest environmental and animal welfare standards in the world and traceable to family farms and businesses in NI.
It may seem that veganism is on the rise; however, looking outside the noise on social media and our TV screens over the last month, the total population choosing a meat free diet is much lower than perceived. AHDB consumer insights have reported that veganism makes up just two percent of the UK’s population. With ‘Veganuary’ finished farmers can now look forward to promotion of high quality NI produce through ‘Febudairy’ and other initiatives such as ‘Love Lamb Week’ later in the year.
