Trick or treat?! In true October fashion, this month the food and nutrition world faced developments that could spook even the most fearless industry professionals.
Terror struck among the plant-based foods industry, as an amendment being voted by Members of the European Parliament later this month came back to haunt their products. Already under current EU legislation, plant-based food companies are not allowed to call their oat or soy drinks “milk”. Now, a new amendment proposes to go further and potentially ban any resemblance or comparisons between the marketing of plant-based dairy alternatives and animal-derived dairy products. The final strike will come during the European Parliament’s Plenary session on 19th-22nd October, when MEPs are set to vote on the proposals.
The White House shook a frantic Berlaymont, the mothership of the European Commission, after the US Agriculture Secretary hinted at a complaint to the World Trade Organisation against the EU should the Farm to Fork Strategy lead to a protectionist policy that would leave American food producers with no access to the EU market.
In the UK, British retailers pulled an early Halloween trick to consumers with a warning that a no-deal Brexit could add around £100 a year to their food shopping costs, as the hefty new tariffs on food products imported from the EU would ultimately be passed on to consumers.
You can read in more detail this month’s top developments in the food and nutrition space on our Food & Nutrition Newsletter. We hope you that both you and your close ones have a happy and socially-distanced Halloween!
The Whitehouse team are experts in food law and regulation, providing political consultancy and public affairs advice to a wide range of food manufacturers, distributors and consumer organisations, not only in the United Kingdom, but also across the member states of the European Union. More information about our food and drink policy experience can be found here, or, if you have any questions, please contact our Chair, Chris Whitehouse, at chris.whitehouse@whitehousecomms.com.
