Louisiana Court Labels Vegan-Meat Ban Unconstitutional
A law banning ‘meat’ labels on plant-based products like “vegan burger” and “meatless sausage” has been halted, in a major victory for plant-based food businesses.
A Louisiana labelling law that bans plant-based meat products from using terms like “burger” and “sausage” has been declared unconstitutional in court, and will no longer be legally enforced.
The controversial law, which went into effect on October 1, 2020, imposed fines of up to $500 per day for every representation of plant-based food that uses ‘meat’ terms, even when accompanied by clear modifiers like “vegan”, “veggie”, or “plant-based”.
This effectively outlawed companies from labelling products with clear terminology like “veggie burger” and “vegan sausage”.
Vegan meat producer Tofurky led a lawsuit against the ruling in an attempt to overturn the ban. Now, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana has granted in favor of Tofurky, ruling that the ban is an unconstitutional restriction of free speech under the First Amendment.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for the entire plant-based industry,” said Tofurky CEO Jaime Athos. “The law was an obvious attempt to give unfair advantage to animal agriculture interests by stifling the growth of plant-based food sales, and this ruling serves as a warning to other state legislatures who may forget that they are elected to serve the needs of their constituents, not those of corporate special interests”.
Similar meat-labelling censorship laws have passed in other states including Arkansas, Missouri, and Mississippi. Several of these bans are also facing legal challenges by Tofurky and other supporters of plant-based food businesses, who state that there is no evidence that current labels mislead consumers.
“Consumers are not confused — they are actively and thoughtfully choosing plant-based burgers, hot dogs, sausages, and cheese because they’re better choices for the future of our planet,” adds Athos.
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