vegan censorship

vegan cheese

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Politics & Law

Plant-Based Cheese Production and Sales Facing Unprecedented Ban in Turkey

Vegan cheese producers and consumers in Turkey are facing a government ban on sales and production following an unprecedented law by the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The Vegan Association of Turkey has now filed a lawsuit against the ministry looking to overturn the latest in a line of plant-based censorship rulings.  According to the Vegan Association of Turkey, article 9/3 added to the Turkish Food Codex Regulation writes that: “Products giving the impression of [dairy] cheese cannot be produced using vegetable/plant-based oil or other food ingredients.” The pretense behind the ban is “to prevent adulteration”, but any product that is considered to resemble conventional cheese, but does not even contain the word cheese in its name or marketing, can be sanctioned.  Vegan cheese …

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France Flag

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Politics & Law

“Delusional”: France Becomes First Country to Ban Plant-Based Meat Terms 

France will ban the use of meat names such as “steak” and “sausage” on plant-based foods from October, according to a new decree published yesterday. The ruling claims to avoid confusion for consumers, however, the law was heavily backed by the French meat industry and the country’s largest farming lobby.  France becomes the first country in the European Union to impose such restrictions on sustainable meat alternatives, which have surged in popularity around the globe. Commonly used product descriptions like “bacon” or “chicken” will now be banned for plant-based items, although the word “burger” would still be allowed as it apparently does not specifically refer to meat. Strangely, the law will only apply to French producers for now and not imports, placing a stranglehold on …

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Tofurky

©Tofurky
Politics & Law

Tofurky Wins Historic Louisiana Court Case in Fight Against Plant-Based Censorship

Tofurky, one of the leading plant-based brands in the US, has won a major lawsuit victory for vegan meat producers, as a federal judge ruled against a controversial labeling law. The judge ruled the Louisiana law unconstitutional after it stopped plant-based producers like Tofurky from using terms like “burger” or “sausage”. Facing fines of $500 per day for using such terms on its plant-based meat products, even when featuring qualifiers such as “vegan”, “plant-based”, or “meatless”, Turtle Island Foods, – the owner of Tofurky – had brought a lawsuit against state regulators in 2020, preemptively challenging the new state statute. The US District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana ruled on a motion for summary judgment on the lawsuit, halting enforcement of the law. …

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Arctic Sunrise Greenpeace

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Society

Greenpeace, Foodwatch, WWF and other NGOs Protest EU’s Proposed Vegan Dairy Restrictions

This week, 21 NGOs sent a letter sharply critical of Amendment 171, which will soon be discussed in the trialogue between the Council, the Commission and the EU Parliament. In future, the proposed measures will forbid the use of pictures (such as a glass of oat milk) or words (alternative to …) on oat milk packaging that are reminiscent of milk; to draw comparisons with milk (such as its compared footprint – causes 75% less CO2 than cow’s milk) or even to use packaging that is reminiscent of milk. Must oat milk then be sold in detergent bottles? The protection of designations is to be tightened in order to limit the risk of confusion between oat milk and cow’s milk, but so far, not a …

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