The E.U. considers Orwellian proposal to protect its dairy industry from Vegan competitors
E.U. law proposal, Amendment 171, would prohibit plant-based milk companies from using the phrase 'does not contain milk' to describe products that don't contain milk.
BAYLEN LINNEKIN: The European Union (E.U.) could deal a nonsensical and significant blow to makers of plant-based dairy substitutes such as almond milk and soy-based yogurt. And though several U.S. states have taken some steps to protect animal-based dairy interests, some of the E.U.’s more obnoxious efforts make those wrongheaded efforts in U.S. states look reasonable by comparison.
In 2017, a European court banned makers of plant-based milks from labeling their milk as “milk.” Since then, as The Conversation explained in an excellent piece this week, the E.U. has moved to place further restrictions on plant-based dairy substitutes.
Opponents of the current E.U. proposal, Amendment 171, have dubbed it the “Dairy Ban.” The law would prohibit plant-based milk producers from using words or images on their food labels that may also be used to describe or refer to animal-based dairy products. Worse still, the rules could expand beyond simply censoring words and pictures on food packaging. It could even prohibit the use of some common food packaging itself…
Some of the potential consequences of the proposed E.U. ban, critics contend, could be downright Orwellian… Oatly, the Sweden-based oat milk maker that’s helping lead the charge against Amendment 171, notes the law would prohibit it and other plant-based food companies from using the phrase “does not contain milk” to describe “products that don’t um… contain milk.” That would be exactly as preposterous as it sounds…
Why are E.U. lawmakers leading the charge against the powerful animal-based dairy industry’s upstart plant-based competitors? Simple. Lawmakers are doing so at the behest of those same powerful animal-based dairy interests. The dairy lobby (both in the U.S. and E.U.) claims the honest and accurate labeling, imagery, and packaging used by most plant-based competitors misleads consumers. It does not…
While plant-based meat and dairy substitutes are indeed a small-but-growing segment of the global food market, that growth has been slowed by the lawmakers who have pushed burdensome rules. In the U.S., lawmakers in several states have mimicked some of the worst inclinations of lawmakers in Brussels…
In the United States, at least, these various state laws barring plant-based food makers from honestly describing the products they sell violate their First Amendment rights. And they violate the First Amendment rights of consumers to see, read, and be informed by those honest descriptions…
While the rights of food companies and consumers may differ to some extent in the E.U., the same general principles apply equally there and in the U.S.: consumers are served best when the law allows companies to tell the truth about their food products. That’s why the growing European crackdown on plant-based foods, which violates that principle, is so harmful and should be reversed. SOURCE…
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