Group Offers Rules for Meat Analogue Labels

A trade group for plant-based foods has proposed guidelines for labeling analogue meat products that it hopes will satisfy both its members and the meat industry.

The Plant-Based Foods Association put out a two-page set of guidelines for meat analogues under which the use of meat-related terms like “sausage” or “burger” would be allowed on a label, as long as it also included a clear qualifier like “plant-based,” “vegetarian,” “vegan” or “meatless.” The guidelines state that those terms “should appear either in the statement of identity or otherwise in a prominent position on the principal display panel.”

The association’s guidelines are an attempt to head off more restrictive legislation passed by several states that forbid such products from using any meat-related terms on labeling. One such law, in Arkansas, has been blocked by a federal judge.