Quebec producers take plant-based beef to CFIA

Quebec’s farmer union and its beef producers are calling on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to stop Beyond Meat from using the word “meat” when referring to its plant-based products, such as burgers and sausages, Quebec’s TVA Nouvelles reports.

Beyond Meat launched its meat-alternative product line in Canada on May 1, 2019.

L’Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) and Les Producteurs de bovins du Québec call the use of the word meat in Beyond Meat’s advertising false representation.

CFIA defines meat as the edible part of a carcass that is the muscle associated with the skeleton, tongue, diaphragm, heart, gizzard or mammalian oesophagus, with or without accompanying and overlying fat.

Beyond Meat calls its products burgers, sausage, and beef “crumbles.” The company also features a cow and pig, sporting capes, on product labels.

RealAgriculture has reached out to both the UPA and Beyond Meat for comment, but neither party has responded as of press time.

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