The EU Court of Justice on Wednesday
said purely plant-based products cannot be marketed with
designations such as 'milk', 'cream', 'butter', 'cheese' or
'yoghurt', in a decision hailed by Italian producers.
The head of milk producers' association Assolatte, Massimo
Fiorino, told ANSA the decision was "important" as it confirmed
that such designations are reserved by EU law for animal
products.
"The problem is that the world of vegetal products wants to
acquire names that aren't theirs", he added.
Farmers' association Coldiretti also hailed the decision
saying that such denominations to describe plant-based products
"deceive consumers", endangering milk producers to unfair
competition from products, like soy-based beverages and food,
that are currently worth "198 million euros in Italy, up 7.4%
over the past year".
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