IFA urges MEPs to protect the meat industry
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are asked to protect the meat and dairy industry from the invasion of the plant-based alternatives that use the same denomination as the classic meat and dairy products. Ahead of the plenary vote on meat and dairy denominations in the EU Parliament this week, the Irish Farmers' Association has written to Irish MEPs urging them to accept both amendments to protect the industry and its consumers.
These amendments will succeed in securing words such as ‘steak’, ‘sausage’, ‘escalope’, ‘burger’ or ‘hamburger’ for products that exclusively contain meat; and ‘milk’, ‘cheese’, ‘yoghurt’, ‘butter’ or ‘whey’ for products that exclusively contain dairy.
IFA President Tim Cullinan said, “We simply cannot have plant-based products deliberately disguised as something they are not. It’s deliberately misleading to our consumers and undermines our industry. Private companies want to cash in on our reputation and use it to sell their products. There is a powerful lobby in Europe to reject these amendments, so it’s crucial that our MEPs listen to farmers on the ground and adopt them,” he said.
Similar debates were carried in other regions of the world since 2018 but without any clear result in separating the market share for meat products from the plant-based alternatives.
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