Today would have seen tens of thousands of plant-based products seized from retail stores in South Africa if they contained banned meat words like “meatballs”, “burgers”, and “nuggets”. The ProVeg lawyers stepped in and won a reprieve for plant-based producers.
The legal battle in the Johannesburg High Court is not yet over, explains Donavan will, country director of ProVeg South Africa, as the orgaisation battles in the courts to push for a long-term solution.
Government had issued a directive that any meatless items like nugget, mince or sausage, must be seized and destroyed from Monday.
Spur had found a soya alternative to the popular Beyond Burger brand. SpurBeyond Meat has cancelled shipments to South Africa out of fear that its plant-based meat substitute products may be seized, says Spur, which serves the US giant’s Beyond Burger at its restaurants.
Last month, the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development ordered plant-based food producers to rename products that refer to meat in their names, which it says cause confusion among customers. Failing to do so would result in any meatless items with names like nugget, mince, or sausages being seized and destroyed.
The department instructed the Food Safety Agency to start seizing non-compliant products from 22 August.
The Food Safety Agency, in a notice issued last week Tuesday, confirmed that it would “seize any meat analogue products presented for sale in the republic of South Africa which are using the product names prescribed for processed meat products in terms of section 8 of the Agricultural Product standards Act 119 of 1990 (the Act) at all points of sale,i.e., facilities, premises (retail and wholesale) conveyances, etc.”
But on Friday, the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) obtained a temporary interdict against seizure, Business Live reported.
Source: Business Insider South Africa, Fin24, News Times, 99 News Buzz, Up Jobs News, Food Ingredients, image from Business Insider South Africa: Getty Images