Alternative Proteins Regulations
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| Geographic Region | Date | Information | Outcome |
| European Union | May-21 | Amendment 171, draft legislation that would have imposed new restrictions on terminology for plant-based dairy, was rejected in May 2021[1]. This amendment would have prevented companies from using descriptive terms such as 'creamy', 'buttery' and 'vegan alternative to yogurt'. The rejection of the amendment was supported by consumers, NGOs and food companies[2]. | Rejected |
| Oklahoma, USA | Apr-21 | The HB 3806 bill was signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt in May 2020, this legislation bans plant-based products from using terms such as 'burger' or 'sausage'. Upton's Naturals and the Institute for Justice filed a lawsuit to challenge the legislation but in April 2021 a federal judge denied them[3]. | Approved |
| USA | Apr-21 | Dairy Pride Act stands for “Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, milk, and cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday”. This act would require the FDA to issue nationwide enforcement within 90 days of the Act being passed, preventing plant-based products from being labelled as dairy products[4]. The Act has been proposed and rejected twice already, during 2017 and 2019, but Senators Balwin and Risch reintroduced it to congress on the 22nd April 2021[5],[6]. | Under consideration |
| Georgia, USA | Apr-21 | Meat bill SB 211 was introduced in early 2019 and passed through the House on the 8th July 2020. It was signed by the Governor on the 24th of July and came into force on the 31st December 2020. The bill was amended in April 2021 so that alternative proteins can be named after meat products as long as plant-based is in the title, such as 'plant-based burger'.[7] | Approved (amended) |
| Arkansas, USA | Nov-20 | In 2019 the state passed a law making it illegal to use meat-related words to describe meat alternatives. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Good Food Institute (GFI) and the company Tofurky took the state of Arkansas to federal court, after having filed a complaint on 22nd July 2019. The court found the law violated First Amendment protections for commercial speech, winning Tofurky a preliminary injunction, recently the state agreed to make that order permanent [8]. | Rejected |
| Australia and New Zealand | Nov-20 | Discussions are ongoing at the Australia New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation over whether to introduce regulation that would ban meat- and dairy-related terms on products that are not animal-derived. This follows lobbying from former Australian Minister for Agriculture, Bridget McKenzie, and Australian Dairy Farmers [9]. The plant-based industry is criticising the November 2020 roundtable calling it an 'unbalanced representation' as Food Frontier was the only representative from the alternative protein sector[10]. | Under consideration |
| Louisiana, USA | Oct-20 | In 2019 Louisiana passed a label censorship law, restricting the use of meat-related terms for plant-based foods as well as dairy-related terms for non-dairy products. The law took effect on the 1st of October 2020. The GFI and ALDF have since filed a lawsuit on behalf of Tofurky which is currently ongoing.[11],[12] | Approved |
| European Union | Oct-20 | The European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development proposed legislation to ban the use of meat-related terms such as 'burger' on plant-based products, instead suggesting the use of 'veggie discs' and 'veggie fingers'. This was rejected by Parliament in October 2020.[13] | Rejected |
| California, USA | Aug-20 | Miyoko's Creamery, a plant-based company producing vegan cheese and butter, won a permanent injunction in their legal dispute with the California Department of Food and Agriculture who told them they could no longer call their products 'milk' or 'butter'. US district judge Richard Seeborg stated that the company are entitled to First Amendment protection[14] . | Approved (challenged) |
| Virginia, USA | Apr-20 | Bill HB 119 would have restricted the use of terms such as 'milk' to products containing dairy. It was vetoed by the Governor, Ralph Northam, in April 2020 due to concerns over the protection of free speech[15]. | Rejected |
| Wisconsin, USA | Apr-20 | Senate bills SB 463, AB 515, SB 466 and AB 516 aimed to restrict labelling for plant-based dairy and meat and prevent the use of terms associated with meat and dairy products. The bills are currently under consideration, with the legislative session continuing into 2022. [16] | Under consideration |
| Mexico | Dec-19 | Members of Mexico's Chamber of Deputies have voted to approve a draft bill that would amend the Industrial and Federal Property of Consumer Protection law, to prevent dairy terms being used on the labels of non-dairy products, such as soya milk[17]. Amendments are now to be studied by the Chamber of Senates[18]. | Under consideration |
| Mississippi, USA | Nov-19 | Introduced by the Mississippi Cattlemen Association, this bill would forbid grocery companies from labelling products using meat-related terms such as 'burger', the bill was approved in 2019. In response Upton's Naturals filed a lawsuit challenging the rule on First Amendment grounds, the bill was revised to permit meaty terms as long as products were clearly labelled plant based, such as 'vegan burgers'[19] | Approved (revised) |
| North Carolina, USA | Jun-19 | In June 2019 North Carolina passed legislation making it illegal to use dairy-related terms on plant-based products. This will only take effect if 11 states in the Southern Dairy Compacts adopt the legislation[20]. | Approved (not in action) |
| Maryland, USA | May-19 | In 2019, proposed legislation to restrict plant- and cell-based products from using meat-related terms were backed by Senator Jason Gallion and the Maryland Farm Bureau. The dairy regulation will only take effect if 11 states in the Southern Dairy Compacts adopt the legislation[21]. | Approved (not in action) |
| Canada | May-19 | The Canadian Cattlemen's Association and the Quebec Cattle Producers Association submitted a formal complaint to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency over the labelling of plant-based meat products using meat-related terms such as 'burger' or 'sausage'[22]. Despite this complaint, there has been no further action to ban the use of meat terms. | Rejected |
| France | Apr-18 | First to implement reforms on the labelling of plant-based meat and dairy, banning meat and dairy-related terms. The measures were put forward by Jean-Baptiste Moreau, a member of En Marche! and a cattle farmer.[23] Based in part on June 2017 ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that ruled dairy terms could not be used on vegan products.[24] This law has been invalidated for procedural reasons, but a new law has passed the legislature, but the administration is yet to issue the decree that specifies the precise list of banned terms or principles for application.[25] | Approved |
| European Union | 17 | EU regulation in 2013 banned the use of dairy terms to describe plant-based milk and dairy products under the Common Market Organisation 1308/2013 regulation[26]. Excluding some regional exceptions for terms such as 'creme de riz', the use of terms such as 'milk', 'cream', 'butter', 'cheese' and 'yoghurt' to label products not derived from dairy is prohibited. This was met with opposition from Tofu Town, which was brought to court by the German company, Verband, in 2017. In June of that year, the ECJ ruled to maintain the regulation, determining that only products derived from plant-based that 'milk' could not use dairy terms in their labelling[27]. | Approved |
| Canada | 85 | Section 5 of the Food and Drug Act prevents any misleading terms from being used in the labelling of products. Further regulations over definitions of products that have been in place for decades make it hard for plant-based companies to label their products. According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), milk is defined as “the normal lacteal secretion, free from colostrum [and] obtained from the mammary gland of an animal.” Other dairy products are defined as “foods produced from the milk of mammals”. The CFIA intervenes on a case-by-case basis when complaints are made.[28] | Approved |
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