News

The European Vegetarian Union has lodged a complaint with the Commission against a French law restricting the use of names traditionally used to meat products for vegetarian food (vegetarian burgers, sausages, etc.). According to France, the use of traditional names for vegetarian foods confuses consumers. However, according to the Vegetarian Union, the law runs counter to the EU's efforts to reduce meat consumption and distorts the European single market, as food producers will be forced to make special adjustments to the labelling of products exported to France.
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Analysis of 115 samples of plant-based milk sold in Australia revealed especially low content of important minerals and vitamins (A, B12, calcium, protein, zinc, iodine) compared to cow's milk. According to the analysis, consumers perceive plant-based milk as an adequate source of minerals.
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Janusz Wojciechowski, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, said last week that intensive livestock production practices would not ensure food sovereignty or food security in the European Union in the future. According to Wojciechowski, intensive livestock production requiring the transport of live animals over long distances (hundreds to thousands of kilometres), requiring the import of feed from third countries, especially the US, and requiring the relocation of workers from countries neighbouring the EU should not be the future of European agriculture.

Poland has confirmed 4 new cases of African swine fever (ASF) in domestic farms since March 2020. Three cases of ASF have been confirmed in the west of the country, one in a large commercial farm with 10,000 pigs, 215 km from the German border. ASF continues to spread among wild boars in Poland, with 1,058 new cases reported since the last update. Other cases were also confirmed in domestic pigs in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine.
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Italy is introducing a new decree extending the mandatory labelling of the country of origin to pork in meat products (ham, smoked meat, etc.). The new decree should help the Italian pork sector, which has been significantly affected by the coronavirus crisis. Only food from the meat of animals born, reared, and slaughtered in Italy can be labelled as "100% Italian".
More information is available here.