A newly-published international standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), called “Plant-based foods and food ingredients — Definitions and technical criteria for labelling and claims,” will serve to increase trust in the global plant-based food industry, ProVeg International has said.
According to consumer research, 'plant-based' is one of the most popular ways to label products that don't contain animal ingredients. Before now, there has been no internationally recognised guideline on how this claim should be used.
As a result, foods containing animal ingredients are occasionally labelled as plant-based, which risks confusing consumers and damaging their trust in this claim.
The new ISO standard provides clear guidance for both manufacturers and retailers worldwide to promote plant-based as a claim that can now be trusted by consumers.
“We expect the new standard to have a profound impact on industry,” said Martine van Haperen, a food service and food industry expert at ProVeg International.
“It could be a first step towards governmental legislation regarding the labelling of plant-based foods, further solidifying consumer trust in this product claim."
ISO is a very influential institute and this standard will likely influence both corporate and governmental food-labelling policy.
"Adherence to ISO standards is voluntary, so we need to wait and see how this standard is received and implemented across various cultural, economical and political spaces,” Van Haperen said.
The standard will cover two types of foods:
- food with no animal ingredients which can be labelled plant-based
- food with limited and conditional use of animal ingredients.
Foods in the second category cannot be labelled plant-based, except with a qualifier, such as “plant-based vegetarian.”
Under these new guidelines, they can also be called something else, such as “plant-strong.”
However, the use of animal-derived ingredients must also be clearly highlighted on the label to prevent consumers from being misled.