An Austrian company’s oat drink is currently arousing displeasure among local farmers. Because the company from Burgenland calls its plant-based milk alternative “mlik”, AGES noted a “tendency to deceive” and is now issuing an expert opinion on this. However, each state must order a change to the packaging label separately.
The “mlik” could be confused with animal milk, the state agency for food safety (AGES) has now confirmed an initial assessment in a report, writes the trade journal “Agricultural” (online, for a fee). The federal states must determine that ‘mlik’ should be called something else. According to the trade journal, only Vienna has done so so far.
“phonetic reference to milk”
According to the trade journal, the change has already been made for certain “mlik” packs, regardless of expert opinion. Other oat milk packages with “mlik” imprint are still in circulation.
According to “Farmer”, the report states: “Because of the clear phonetic reference to the protected term ‘milk’ and additional labeling elements, which do not clarify but also reinforce this phonetic reference, AGES believes that in this individual case it would be appropriate to The Food Safety and Consumer Protection Act (LMSVG) prohibits the marketing of such foods, the magazine said.
So far, only Vienna has intervened
Vienna acts on the basis of the LMSVG: “In accordance with the applicable legal provisions, the Vienna Market Office has taken action after receiving the AGES report on our official sampling, setting a deadline in accordance with Section 39 LMSVG,” the magazine quotes Alexander Hengl of Municipal Department 59 (Market Office). In short: the presentation will probably have to be adjusted. The other states did not want to intervene for the time being, according to the newspaper. The supermarket wants to wait for orders.
The debate on naming plant-based dairy products was decided in 2017 by an EU ruling. The European Court of Justice then ruled that such products should no longer be sold under names such as “vegetable cheese”, “tofu butter” or “soy milk”, as this could irritate consumers.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
