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NCBA takes issue with meat substitute labels

Beef industry officials say they can compete with plant-based or lab grown protein products, but they take issue with how some of them are labeled. Danielle Beck with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says a point of contention is when what she refers to as fake meat is labeled as clean meat.

“Clean meat implies that real meat is dirty,” Beck told Brownfield Ag News at the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association Convention Saturday, “and that’s absolutely unacceptable.”

The label issue is critical when addressing regulatory proposals for lab-grown or plant-based meat substitutes, according to Beck.

“Consumers need to know exactly what it is that they’re buying,” said Beck, “and without the right information provided on a product label that’s not going to happen.”