Plant-based meat products could be withdrawn from South African supermarkets very soon.
As reported by live timesThe state Food Safety Agency (FSA) will seize products labeled with names related to processed meat, such as meatballs, hot dogs, biltong, etc., starting next Monday (Aug 22).
The FSA acts on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. The latter spent prohibition on plant-based brands using meat-related terms earlier this year.
However, Fry Family Food (known widely as Fry’s) filed an objection to the ban in July. The brand is the largest plant-based producer in the country.
It maintains that, due to the objection, its proceeds cannot be seized.
The brand argued that the department would have to “convene a court to assess our objection.”
A formal objection to the ban.
The LIVEKINDLY collective owns Fry’s. It issued a statement saying: “In response to the instruction issued to Fry’s in early July, LIVEKINDLY Collective Africa (on behalf of Fry’s) filed a formal objection.”
“We followed the procedure set out in the Farm Products Standards Act which required us to file the objection within 10 days of receipt of the address.”
He added that, according to the Act, the department had to convene a tribunal to evaluate the objection. The Collective continued: “No legal action, including product seizures, can be taken against Fry’s or LIVEKINDLY Collective Africa in terms of (the) direction of the FSA until that process has been completed.”
“Therefore, everything remains the same for all our brands, products and customers until our objection is finalized. To ensure this is the case, today we will also send a formal reminder to the assignee that any action against our products would be premature and illegal.”
However, other plant-based companies could still see their products seized on Monday.
A letter outlining the FSA’s plan to seize the proceeds, dated Aug. 16, said that, under the Agricultural Products Standards Actthe agency will seize plant-based foods that use “prescribed” names for processed meats.
The Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) said it was “aware of the directive issued by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development” to “seize meat-like products using prescribed product names for processed meat products.” “.
He added that meat analogs are not currently covered by current legislation. They are also “excluded from the scope of processed meat regulations.”
South Africa-based Garth Tavares, known as Cape Town Vegan, told Plant Based News that the decision to seize vegan meat feels like a “witch hunt against the vegan and plant-based sectors.”
He added: “I have absolute faith in the vegan community and their ability to stand up to the meat and dairy ‘giants’. Seeing how deeply this will affect an already decimated economy is incredibly short-sighted.”
The rise of plant-based meat
Vegan meat substitutes have seen a staggering rise in popularity in recent years.
Globally, total consumption grew from 133 million kilograms in 2013 to 470 million kilograms in 2020.
Many meat producers contend that labeling these products with “meat” terms is confusing to consumers. But plant-based brands claim otherwise.
Fry’s chief marketing officer, Tammy Fry, said earlier this year, “Our product descriptions play an important role in helping our consumers understand how to use our products.”
Experts widely acknowledge that plant-based meat is more sustainable than its animal-based counterpart. A recent Oxford University to study of 57,000 food products, for example, suggested that sausages and veggie burgers are up to 10 times better for the planet than meat.
Animal agriculture drives deforestation. more according to The United Nationsit is responsible for 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The campaign against plant-based meat labels
South Africa is not the first place to try to crack down on plant-based meat.
In 2020, the The EU ruled that plant-based companies they might label their products with terms like “hamburger” or “sausage.” This was after some animal breeders and meat producers filed a measure with the aim of prohibiting them from doing so.
In November last year, Spain rejected proposals ban such labels after a campaign by a far-right group.
Like South Africa, France also voted earlier this year to ban plant-based brands from using the words “meat.” However, the ban was temporarily tipped over by the highest court in the country.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘746177258902855’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
