Reuters reports that a new rule banning food companies from comparing plant-based products to dairy in their marketing could be agreed by the European Union this week. But protests have come from firms including Danone, Nestle and Unilever.
“It would be almost impossible to communicate about plant-based products,” Siska Pottie, head of the European Alliance for Plant-Based Foods, told Reuters.
“Saying a product had half the carbon emission of butter could be forbidden. Even ‘lactose-free’ might not be allowed… it’s madness.”
The draft legislation, Amendment 171, gained the support of the European parliament last October with 54% of MEPS in favour, even in the same voting round that overturned a proposed EU ban on the term ‘veggie burger’.
It now needs approval from EU member states and parliament, who will discuss it this week along with the Commission. If eventually signed off, the law would be rolled out across the bloc’s 27 member states.
