The importance of product labeling freedom
The animal products industry is not sitting idly by as the plant-based foods industry grows. They are lobbying at the state and federal level in the US and in other countries as well to prohibit the use of terms like “milk” and “meat” on plant-based foods. So Soymilk would be Soy beverage, and the term “plant-based meat” would not be legal to have on a package. Of course this comes up against well accepted uses of terms (think peanut butter, cream soda, etc.).
In fact, in 2017, the EU, via a ruling by the European Court of Justice, restricted the use of milk and various terms to animal products. And half of US states now have considered bills that would limit the ways that plant-based meat analogues could label their products, most of them proposing that the packages could not say "meat" on them. Some have gone so far as to prohibit the use of terms understood to be "meat-related," such as "hamburger" or "patty" or "hot dog." Un the US, the Plant Based Foods Association has banded with Tofurkey, Uptons Naturals and the Good Food Institute to file various suits against these laws and regulations and are starting to see some victories.
We note however that the EU labeling restrictions do not seem to have inhibited the stopped the growth of the plant-based industry there, but it may have slowed it. Companies are clever in how they can name products and how they package them to look like the products they are meant to replace, and consumers are not at all confused, in fact they want these new products. Terms like peanut butter and veggie burger are common the lexicon and create no confusion at all.
Also, the publicity around these laws and the fights that surround them seem to only raise awareness of plant-based foods, and focus attention on the less attractive aspects of animal foods as lawmakers struggle to precisely define what “milk” and “meat” even is using terms such as “secretions” and “carcasses”.
All indications are the fight has only just begun,