The contentious issue of non-animal products being sold as meat and milk is on the menu for discussion between Australian and New Zealand government regulators in Brisbane this week.
Last week the European Parliament's agriculture committee voted for a new law banning the use of words such as "burger", "hamburger", "steak" or "sausage" on food packaging or any promotion material if the food in question was "primarily made up of vegetable proteins".
The news has empowered long-time "truth in labelling" campaigners such as dairy lobby group, Dairy Connect, which has been pushing for Australian political leaders to introduce stringent rules to support national guidelines on the definition of milk.
The advocacy group and other dairy industry specialists have argued plant-based dairy alternatives made from a vast array of nut, oilseed and grain products have hijacked the term "milk", undermining the unique and unprocessed nutritional qualities of real milk sourced from cows and other mammals.
Truth in labelling will be one of the issues covered by this week's meeting of the multi-government Food Regulation Standing Committee (FRSC) - a sub-committee of the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation.
The FRSC co-ordinates policy advice to ensure a nationally consistent approach to the implementation and enforcement of food standards set by the forum.
Dairy Connect chief executive officer, Shaughn Morgan, said legal opinion was certainly swinging behind the need to accurately brand and detail plant-derived products.
"Expert scientific analysis has proven beyond doubt that so-called plant-based drinks called 'milks' are nutritionally inferior to natural dairy milk from dairy cows, as plant-based drinks need to fortified," he said.
"Dairy Connect has long espoused 'truth in labelling' with respect to plant-sourced products using animal product terms as camouflage on consumer shelves.
"Using the term 'milk' for plant beverages is clearly misleading as these products are competing against dairy in a rapidly changing consumer marketplace."
Last October federal Regional Services Minister Bridget McKenzie asked a meeting of Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to crack down on "imitation terminology" in the food business.
She wanted consumers to be confident when they bought honey, it was real honey; when they bought meat, it was from an animal; and when they bought milk, it was from dairy cows.
Customer confusion
Senator McKenzie said changes had to be made in Australia to protect the reputation of farmers and the products they produced.
In February International Dairy Federation president, Dr Judith Bryans, told the Australian Dairy Conference dairy was under attack from plant-based alternatives.
They trade on dairy names and dairy values
- Dr Judith Bryans, DairyUK
"If you go into a supermarket in the UK, there are a lot of plant-based products that call themselves an alternative to dairy, even though nutritionally they are not equivalent," said Dr Bryans, the chief executive of DairyUK.
"They are not equivalent in taste or texture.
"But they trade on dairy names and dairy values."
She said this was confusing consumers, particularly millennials, who, according to one piece of UK research, associated the word dairy with alternative products, rather than real dairy products.
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At the same time, diary was fighting a rearguard battle overseas as several United Nations and government policies, although not targeting dairy directly, made their impact.
The UN recently voted to reduce the harm of fats, sugar and salt in the diet, as it tried to combat the negative health impacts of poor diets, consequently classing dairy as a high-fat food.
Although the UN motion was later amended to specify "excessive" consumption of fats, Canada had already excluded dairy from its latest dietary guidelines.
Mr Morgan noted Senator McKenzie had highlighted similar concerns in Australia about shoppers often not realising they were buying plant-based products, rather than products from animals.
Milk should be milk
"We are not saying not to buy plant-based drinks, just call them what they are and they are, not milks," Mr Morgan said.
"Dairy milk has a higher natural nutritional value than fortified waters."
He said the regulation standing committee had, as part of its role, responsibility to harmonise regulations governing food products and marketing in Australia and NZ.
Mandatory label information to protect consumers from food safety challenges was well established, with examples including product description, allergen rating and manufacturer contact details.
"Products also carry mandatory information that helps consumers pursue healthy diets," he said.
"Technologies such as internet-enabled devices now provide an opportunity to communicate almost unlimited information to consumers, including at point of sale."
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