4 ms·

None of the examples in that article appear to use the term "plant-based" on their products, so it seems even those brands were respectful on the term. If anyth

by chc 4y ago

None of the examples in that article appear to use the term "plant-based" on their products, so it seems even those brands were respectful on the term. If anything, that seems like it makes the opposite case of "plant-based is definitionally meaningless."

solardev 4y ago
They were released at the same time as the height of the plant-based craze. Plant-based is not a legally protected term the way that, say "organic" is (neither is "vegan", for that matter). Different marketers and/or third-party certifiers will use that term how they wish. And "made with plants" is already awfully similar, enough to cause confusion in the media: https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/21460-tyson-introduces-new-plant-based-blended-products https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/21460-tyson-introduces-... Tyson was intentionally muddying the waters with the Raised & Rooted brand, which initially contained meat and eggs and eventually became completely plant, but under the same brand name and very similar packaging. It caused a lot of controversy at the time for violating the spirit -- if not the letter -- of "plant-based". Here's another example of a plant-based product with with real cheese: https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_351013af-154d-48f3-ac63-3b4f35303fac https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_351013af-154... (although I think they later changed the packaging on that to be clearer). I'm not saying things just to be a pedantic a-hole; as someone who's been vegan for a long time, seeing the plant-based products (especially frozen ones) hit the freezers but also hide animal ingredients was a very frustrating and confusing time. It's gotten a bit better now, I guess with enough consumer backlash, but for a couple of years there there were quite a lot of insidiously labeled products that you really had to scan the ingredients & allergens for no matter how they used the word "plant" on the front. What I'm saying is that it's ultimately a marketing term, not a strict definition of any sort. Nobody is enforcing plant-based violations. You have to look at the ingredients rather than the front of the packaging if you want to figure out what it actually has.

by chc 4y ago

solardev 4y ago

They were released at the same time as the height of the plant-based craze. Plant-based is not a legally protected term the way that, say "organic" is (neither is "vegan", for that matter). Different marketers and/or third-party certifiers will use that term how they wish. And "made with plants" is already awfully similar, enough to cause confusion in the media: https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/21460-tyson-introduces-new-plant-based-blended-products https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/21460-tyson-introduces-... Tyson was intentionally muddying the waters with the Raised & Rooted brand, which initially contained meat and eggs and eventually became completely plant, but under the same brand name and very similar packaging. It caused a lot of controversy at the time for violating the spirit -- if not the letter -- of "plant-based". Here's another example of a plant-based product with with real cheese: https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_351013af-154d-48f3-ac63-3b4f35303fac https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_351013af-154... (although I think they later changed the packaging on that to be clearer). I'm not saying things just to be a pedantic a-hole; as someone who's been vegan for a long time, seeing the plant-based products (especially frozen ones) hit the freezers but also hide animal ingredients was a very frustrating and confusing time. It's gotten a bit better now, I guess with enough consumer backlash, but for a couple of years there there were quite a lot of insidiously labeled products that you really had to scan the ingredients & allergens for no matter how they used the word "plant" on the front. What I'm saying is that it's ultimately a marketing term, not a strict definition of any sort. Nobody is enforcing plant-based violations. You have to look at the ingredients rather than the front of the packaging if you want to figure out what it actually has.