Aussie Senator Launches Inquiry Into Meat-Free Products Labelling Themselves Meat

A Queensland Senator has launched an inquiry into meat-free products calling themselves meat.

There are loads of products that have packaging indicating it's the vegan version of a popular meat like 'vegan bacon' or 'vegan steaks'.

However, farmers and campaigners aren't happy with current labelling laws because they believe the products should be called what they are: anything but meat.

Queensland Nationals senator Susan McDonald told 2GB a person doesn't need any more confusion when they're perusing the aisles of their local shopping centre.

"We don't want to mince words on this. We want it to be clear. It's time to call it out for what it is," she told Ben Fordham on 2GB.

"If you're a mum standing in the supermarket aisle trying to make decisions, you're thinking about nutrition, you're thinking about where your food's come from, trying to think about sustainability, all of those things are in your head.

"If we've got products that are not clearly labelled, we've got to make it easier.

"These are other products pretending to be associated with meat and they're just not. Like champagne from France, like port from Portugal, I think it's time that we put provenance back into our products.

"We have trust in labelling and put the meat back into red meat."

The inquiry will be looking into where these meat-free products are coming from and how they're made.

McDonald, a former butcher, said the producers of these products need to band together and come up with a name that accurately portrayals what's inside the packaging, rather than piggybacking off the well-recognised name of 'meat'.

She has absolutely nothing against the meat-free food industry, but just wants clarity for everyone.

The Senator added: "If you prefer tofu over T-bone, then you go for it but forget the ethics of eating animal products, this is about protecting a highly valuable industry and also providing a clear distinction between the real thing and the alternatives so consumers know exactly what they're getting."

John McKillop from the Red Meat Advisory Council believes this inquiry is long overdue.

"It is a national disgrace that highly processed plant-based protein made from imported ingredients are allowed to be labelled as Australian meat," he said.

"These highly processed, unnatural plant-based products are increasingly seen as a health risk and are in no way similar to the red meat produced by Australian farmers."

Featured Image Credit: Supplied

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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