French lead the way in protecting the terms "meat" and "dairy"
- By: "Farm Tender" News
- Cropping & Grain News
- Apr 29, 2018
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Advocacy group Dairy Connect has welcomed a ban by the French Government on the use of ‘meat’ and ‘dairy’ inspired names for vegetable sourced food products.
The French have said adieu to ‘le veggie burger’ and bon soir to ‘soy steaks’ after the French Parliament banned the use of ‘meaty’ sounding names for vegetable-based substitutes because they mislead consumers.
Dairy Connect said it has been waging a quiet war on vegetable and plant sourced ‘milks’ cashing in on the superior nutritional value of milk from dairy cows.
CEO Shaughn Morgan said today the French Government was protecting dairy milk in terms of its value as a source of human nutrition, particularly after the European Court of Justice decision on appropriate labelling for dairy products in its decision from June 2017 (see https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2017-06/cp170063en.pdf).
“The French are also underscoring the importance of truth in advertising and not seeking to mislead consumers,” he said.
“We have led the industry push in Australia to have liquid extracted from a range of plant products from being labelled as milks.
“We invite friends of true dairy to sign our real milk only petition at https://www.change.org/p/taking-a-stand-for-real-milk.
“Fresh liquid milk is a premium quality, short shelf-life food of immense nutritional value, unlike plant derived liquids.”
In the USA, the National Milk Producers’ Federation (NMPF) characterises such labeling as a misappropriation of ‘traditional dairy terms’ and says that ‘food labels should clearly and accurately identify the true nature of the food to the consumer’. The NMPF recently stated “… the omnibus spending bill Congress approved last month contains language expressing its concern that dairy labeling standards need to be properly enforced.”
Milk generally contains higher levels of protein and a wider range of vitamins and minerals.
Children need sufficient protein and energy for normal growth and development.
If liquids like almond or rice extracts are a regular part of a young child’s diet, other sources of protein and energy are needed to replace those otherwise provided by milk.
Plant-based beverages are required to have advice on the label that the product is not suitable as a complete milk replacement for children under 5 years.
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