Vegetarian and Vegan, One Nobody and One Hundred Thousand. The labels of the products thus marked remain in search of identity. A reflection and a proposal, to the operators of the supply chain and to policy maker.
Thousands of new foods have rained on the market in recent years, thanks to the extraordinary growth of the vegan and vegetarian category. The service component and the concept moreover, they have extended the consumption of vegetable-based ready meals to even the most inveterate carnivores.
The identity of the foods However, presented as vegetarians or vegans is enigmatic in many cases. Linear meters of supermarket shelves are crowded with products whose name is often limited to the evocation of a corresponding meat-based food, with the addition of the 'magic word'. It is not enough.
Un citizen Vegan, for example, it can in some cases offer a significant amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats. In other cases, only a modest content of sugars and vegetable fibers. The biological value of proteins can vary considerably due to their sources (eg soy, wheat) and to the combinations (eg cereals plus legumes) that allow for the integration of essential amino acids.
Fancy names like citizen, nuggets, vegetable meatballs they are therefore completely meaningless, apart from the news of the absence of meat or ingredients of animal origin. To understand whether it is a dish or a side dish, the consumer is thus forced to turn each package upside down. Consult the ingredients list and the nutritional table, in the hope of finding out.
The name of the food it should be displayed on the front of the label and especially coded. The obligation to specify, next to the denomination, the primary ingredient (eg 'prepared with wheat and chickpeas', or 'based on vegetables') must be established. Only in this way - precisely because they are new foods - will the consumer be able to easily identify those that correspond to his dietary and meal composition needs. (1)
The words 'vegan', 'vegetarian' or similar must also be regulated with uniformity in the EU internal market. In accordance with the Guidelines of the European Vegetarian Union, which respond to common sentiment shine for clarity. Obviously, the use of such terms must be meticulously respecting the relative provisions, to which must be added the obligation of the so-called internal traceability. (2)
The symbols Vegetarian e Vegan they must also be standardized at European level, as is already the case for organic products. For the express purpose of facilitating the purchases of various types of food by vegetarian and vegan consumers. Saving them from the need to study lists of ingredients that are sometimes enigmatic 'by law', (3) in terms of compatibility with such diets.
Le traffic light labels they are also indispensable on 'new foods' intended for vegetarians and vegans. All the more so since these products today respond to an expectation - sometimes unfounded, (4) and even if legitimate - of a 'healthy choice'. And yet this is often not the case, as we have shown in a recent one market survey which reveals a decidedly excessive salt content compared to WHO recommendations.
Good practices and new rules, for the best protection of consumers.
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Outside the preparations of the macrobiotic tradition such as tofu, seitan, tempeh. And traditional condiments, such as tamari, shoyu, gomasio, umeboshi
(2) That is to say that, in order to be able to label a food as vegan or vegetarian, the responsible operator must guarantee the complete registration of all the ingredients, additives and technological aids used in its processing. In addition to the segregation of production cycles (compared to those in which ingredients of animal origin are used), or to the sanitization of premises and equipment
(3) As is the case with food gelatine, typically made from pig and bovine carcasses. Mono and diglycerides of fatty acids, which can be cited as such even when of animal origin. And various additives
(4) Too many products were launched on the market with a haste, imposed by marketing, which often did not allow the Research and Development departments to develop processes without using additives on the go. Nor to calibrate the nutritional profiles of the products
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
