JADEN URBI: ‘Companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are combining plant-based ingredients and science, rather than animals, to create fake-meat burgers and other products that taste like the real thing. Now U.S. Cattlemen’s Association is looking to draw a line in the sand.
The association launched what could be the first salvo in a long battle against plant-based foods. Earlier this month, the association filed a 15-page petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture calling for an official definition for the term “beef,” and more broadly, “meat”…
Data from HealthFocus International show that 60% of U.S. consumers claim to be reducing their consumption of meat-based products. Of those cutting back, 55% say the change is permanent. So for companies cashing in on the growing plant-based food market, a naming war could make for a rocky relationship with the beef industry.
“We think that the cattlemen could face their competition head on,” said Jessica Almy, policy director at the Good Food Institute. “Or like Tyson and Cargill, they could invest in the future. But rather than do that, they’re petitioning the USDA to police the use of certain terms on labels and skew the playing field in the cattlemen’s favor”.’ SOURCE…
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