75 Percent of Consumers Prefer to Label Vegan Burgers as “Burgers” 

Three out of four consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom are in favor of labeling vegan meats with terms such as “sausage,” “steak,” and “burger,” according to new research. Consultant firm Ingredient Communications, with the help of polling resource Surveygoo, surveyed nearly 1,000 adults of varying dietary preferences (499 in the United Kingdom and 484 in the United States) regarding their attitudes about vegan meat labeling. While vegetarian participants were the most supportive of using “meat” terminology for vegan products, vegan participants were the most vocal group (one in three) in favor of banning those terms. Personal preferences aside, as consumers continue to embrace plant-based foods, the US meat and dairy industries have increased their efforts to lobby legislative bodies to require plant-based companies to re-label their products with terminology that does not compete with animal-derived products, even when qualifiers such as “meat-free” and “non-dairy” are used.