South Africa’s government wants plant-based foods to stop using meat names such as burgers, hot dogs, sausages and nuggets, to name a few.
The government wanted plant-based foods with ‘meaty’ names to be removed from the shelves of supermarkets in South Africa.
Last Friday, the plant-based food sector celebrated a temporary win after urgent legal efforts to halt product seizures were successful in the Johannesburg High Court. It has also called for further dialogue with the government.
The legal efforts followed a letter sent out by the Food Safety Agency (FSA) on August 16 indicating that, as of today, the agency would “seize any meat analogue products presented for sale in South Africa, which are using the product names prescribed for processed meat products in terms ... of the Agricultural Product Standards Act”.
This ruling prohibits the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and its designated assignee, the FSA, from seizing any plant-based meat alternatives they deemed to be in breach of the Agricultural Product Standards Act, said ProVeg SA communications manager, Arleen Nel.
In light of this, South Africa’s biggest maker of plant-based foods, Fry Family Food, took to social media to poke fun at the government’s plans.
The group posted the following picture on Facebook:
#StopTheVeggieBurgerBanSA: The plant-based food sector can celebrate a temporary win after urgent legal efforts on behalf of the industry at the Johannesburg High Court on Friday proved successful in halting product seizures. @Lawtons_Africa @ProVeg_Int pic.twitter.com/7O6xJcN69g
Tweeps also took to social media poking fun at the situation:
BREAKING NEWS:
— Keith Wilkie 🦕 (@KeithWilkie10) August 22, 2022
South Africa bans the use of “Sausage” by these dogs due to fear that they may be eaten by a consumer by accident. pic.twitter.com/V0jOa15XCn
BUSINESS REPORT