Plant-based alternatives were no longer allowed to be called milk, cheese or yogurt, but the EU will decide this week whether to go one step further. All reference to dairy, such as packaging and slogans, should be banned. The Dutch Dairy Organization (NZO) applauds this.
The EU must decide on a new law that aims to differentiate plant foods from dairy products more in terms of marketing. The bill was supported by 54% of MPs in October.
When asked, the NZO states that it supports the amendment because it ensures that consumers are less likely to be misled. It should not be the case that consumers get the idea that vegetable products are equal to dairy products through certain expressions, according to the NZO.
Slogans such as Nestle's 'delicious alternative to dairy' or Danone's 'plant-based alternative to Greek-style yogurt' should change, according to MEPs. Packaging of vegetable products that give too much of the feeling that they are an alternative to dairy products can also be banned.
Food companies such as Danone, Nestle and Unilever are strongly protesting these new regulations. According to Siska Pottie, head of the European Alliance for Plant-Based Foods, this makes it impossible to market plant-based products.
Political struggle with dairy companies
Plant-based products have long been banned from having 'milk' as product names. Think of 'soy milk' or 'almond milk'. These names have been changed to 'soy drink' and 'almond drink'. Parliament will consider the bill this week.
Critics believe that the new bill is inconsistent with the climate targets set by the European Union. According to them, vegetable products should become a normal part of the diet, which will reduce Europe's dairy consumption and ensure lower CO2 emissions. Europe has the highest per capita consumption of dairy products.
European Dairy Association finds that the current slogans confuse consumers. Plant-based foods are a different product from dairy products and this difference should be clearly visible and not related.
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