government regulations

Blue Tribe

© Blue Tribe
Politics & Law

India Introduces First Ever Regulations For Vegan Food

For the first time, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued regulations for vegan food, setting out the requirements that plant-based products must meet and how they can be labelled. Under the new rules, vegan food is defined as containing no animal products whatsoever and having no animal ingredients used during production or processing. Animal testing cannot be used to develop vegan products, unless permission is given by the FSSAI. Additionally, vegan food should be produced in an environment free of animal ingredients, and if this is not possible then strict hygiene requirements must be observed to avoid contamination. New labelling requirements have also been introduced, with vegan food required to display a specific logo and be packaged in a way …

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ProVeg veggie burger ban

©ProVeg
Politics & Law

ProVeg International Criticises the Emerging “Draconian” Plant-Based Labelling Restrictions

Food awareness organisation ProVeg International has criticised the plant-based labelling restrictions recently brought in by several countries worldwide, describing them as “draconian”. South Africa, France, and Turkey are among the countries to have imposed new laws, while further restrictions have been proposed by Belgium and the US. But according to ProVeg, these regulations are counterproductive in the face of the climate crisis. “We can no longer continue down this path as we will destroy vast tracts of our planet in an attempt to provide a diet based on animal agriculture to the ten billion people who will populate the Earth in 2050,” said Jasmijn de Boo, Vice-President of ProVeg International. What are the recent regulations? A new decree in France is set to ban the …

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Just Egg

© Eat Just

Politics & Law

South Africa Bans Meat-Like Terms on Vegan Products, Threatens to Seize JUST Egg From Woolworths

South Africa’s Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has banned the use of meat-like terms on plant-based product labels. Shockingly, in the same vein, JUST Egg products may be seized from Woolworths stores in the country. According to DALRRD, names such as “nuggets”, “vegetarian sausages”, “ribs”, and “chicken-style” are “prescribed and reserved for processed meat products” and must not be used by plant-based producers. The Food Safety Agency has been instructed to seize any plant-based products using these terms. JUST Egg has also come under fire from DALRDD, with major retailer Woolworths ordered to stop selling the product as eggs. The supermarket has been told that all JUST Egg products will be seized if it does not comply. The measure flies in …

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©THIS
Politics & Law

Report Tells UK Government to Revise “Fragmented and Underdeveloped” Alt-Protein Policy

A report by the Social Market Foundation has called on the UK government to update its alt-protein policy, with the aim of improving consumer choice and accelerating the transition to a more sustainable food system. The report says that with its current “fragmented and underdeveloped” policy, the UK risks falling behind other countries. The authors propose several steps the government could take to remedy this. The recommendations are as follows: The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy should develop a UK alt-protein strategy, with input from other departments, within a year. An alt-protein innovation needs assessment should be commissioned to understand how best to spend money and how much R&D is needed. Supermarkets should aim for at least 30% of protein sales to be …

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Ivy Farm Sausage

Image courtesy of Ivy Farm

Politics & Law

Update to UK’s Novel Foods Regulations Will Boost Sustainable Protein Innovation

The UK’s novel foods regulations will be reviewed to make them more “transparent and effective”, the country’s government has announced. In a report titled The Benefits of Brexit: How the UK is taking advantage of leaving the EU, the government says it will no longer be necessary to follow the EU process for approving novel foods. Instead, the UK will have a system specifically designed to “support innovation in the sustainable protein sector”. According to the report, the government will work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to update the regulatory framework, creating a system that is “the best in the world for innovators, investors, and consumers”. Inefficiency and expense The news will be music to the ears of British alt-protein companies — particularly those …

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Lobster terrine, Shiok Meats

Lobster terrine ©Shiok Meats
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Singapore, Japan, or Canada? Global Pathways for Cell-Cultured Meat Revealed by GFI

Once seen as something resembling science fiction, the cell-cultured meat revolution is now gaining momentum at an unstoppable pace. $366 million was raised by cell-cultured meat companies in 2020 – 6X more than 2019, and some studies have suggested cell-cultured is likely to constitute 40% of future meat consumption. As cell-cultured meat moves ever closer to hitting global markets, many countries are actively establishing regulatory approval pathways. “The rest of the world should be following Singapore’s lead” Giving the regulatory lay of the land for entrepreneurs and emerging cultivated meat startups, the Good Food Institute (GFI) has shared information on several countries and where they currently stand on cell-cultured meat regulation. In this way, nascent cell-cultured companies can better understand the possible regulatory pathways to …

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©Tofutown
Interviews

Attorney Beuger: “The Average Consumer is Informed Enough to Recognise the Difference Between this Product and an Animal Product.”

In 2017, the German plant-based foods company Tofutown was sued for calling its plant-based veggie products “Veggie Cheese”.  It was represented by the law office Kanzlei WILDE BEUGER SOLMECKE. In this interview Attorney Beuger, who defended Tofutown, expresses his opinion about the verdict and how he believes people’s views of the plant-based industry may be shifting in the right direction.

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lab meat

© Dmytro Sukharevskyi - stock.adobe.com
Society

USDA and FDA Announce a Formal Agreement to Regulate Cell-Cultured Food Products from Cell Lines of Livestock and Poultry

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced a formal agreement to jointly oversee the production of human food products derived from the cells of livestock and poultry.

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