Faux-meat branding is misleading consumers says National Beef Association
The National Beef Association (NBA) is asking for clearer labelling to further educate consumers on traceability and nutritional values.
“During the month of January alone, we have seen the arrival of many new ‘no-meat’ product ranges, with misleading labelling and little reflection of equivalent nutritional values,” said NBA chairman Andrew Laughton.
“We see the example across the Channel, led by French producers, whereby non-meat-based products must clearly be identified and labelled as such. This faux-meat branding ban means producers using terms such as ‘steak’, ‘sausage’ or ‘burger’ for food free of animal products will face hefty fines, yet we are seeing major high-street food retailers in the UK bringing out more ranges such as ‘vegan-steak bakes’.”
“The Greggs vegan steak bake, for example, is made using Quorn pieces, which are actually made from a fungus, thus making the claim of a ‘steak bake’ spurious at best, and I would suggest that most consumers are unaware that it is effectively derived from a mould.”
“To me, this smacks of a whole movement piggybacking on the ethical, traceable and trusted food source provided by the UK beef industry, and undermines the nutritional values of red meat.”
Lisa Young
Read full article Share on twitter