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Swiss court rules vegan meat substitutes can’t use animal names

No animal names for ersatz vegan meat
No animal names for ersatz vegan meat Keystone-SDA

Vegan meat substitutes may not bear animal names such as “planted.chicken”. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has upheld an appeal by the Federal Department of Home Affairs against a Zurich-based manufacturer of vegan products.

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On Friday morning, the Second Court of Public Law overturned a decision by the Zurich Administrative Court, which had taken the view that the use of animal breed names for vegan meat substitutes was permissible.

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For the majority of the judges on the federal court, expressions such as “planted.chicken”, “like chicken” or “like pork” were misleading for the consumer. Contrary to the opinion of the minority judge, these are not fanciful names.

Planted Foods, based in canton Zurich, produces meat substitutes made from pea protein.

Translated from French by DeepL/jdp

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