Jail For Calling Tofurky Meat In Missouri

A bill that went into effect in Missouri on Aug. 27 makes it a crime punishable with a $1000 fine and/or one year behind bars for “misrepresenting a product as meat that is not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry.” On Aug. 28, Tofurky, the Good Food Institute, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, sued the state, accusing it of stifling competition from the plant-based protein products industry. Veggie burgers have been sold for more than a decade, but the debate over what to call them is becoming heated as plant-based meat substitutes grow more popular. On another front in the same war, the question of whether “milk” can be made from nuts or oats seems to he heading toward the courts. The VP of the Cattlemen’s Association claims the Missouri law is only aimed at making sure consumers know what they’re buying, but the CEO of Tofurky calls it a case of protectionism, and says that telling consumers the product they are buying isn’t animal-derived is the biggest selling point for his product.