EU Rejects Amendment 171: Plant-Based Dairy Alternatives Allowed To Sell In Cartons

26 May 2021

The European Union has rejected the Amendment 171 which was supported by the dairy lobby. The Amendment called for plant-based dairy products to not be sold in cartons to avoid ‘misleading’ the consumer. It would have also disallowed plant-based dairy companies from talking about the impact of foods on climate change, displaying images of their own products, as well as mentioning allergen information.

The EU Parliament came to this conclusion due to the campaign against Amendment 171 led by environmentalists, animal rights and welfare groups, and non-profit organizations. Plant-based dairy brands such as Oatly have also voiced their opposition to this Amendment through social media and even advertisement campaigns.

Image Courtesy: Oatly

The campaign also included a petition signed by over 456,000 people.

The petition stated: “Please reject amendment 171. If adopted, it would totally counteract the consumer shift to more sustainable eating habits that’s urgently needed to fight climate change.”

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg has also been vocally against the Amendment. The 18-year-old released a short film on Saturday talking about the pressing need to change our food system to avoid climate change and future pandemics.

While the Amendment has been rejected, there are still certain restrictions on plant-based companies, such as using words like “milk”, “yoghurt”, and “cream” to describe plant-based dairy alternatives.

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