A plant-based foods company and the American Civil Liberties Union are challenging an Arkansas labeling law.
The law prevents plant-based or cell-derived alternative protein products from using words implying that they contain “meat” on the label.
Meat industry publication Meatingplace reports the company Tofurkey has teamed up with the ACLU in challenging the constitutionality of the law.
The lawsuit claims the law “violates the First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause by illegally censoring speech.”
The labeling law, going into effect this week, would fine companies that use such phrases as burgers, dogs, ham or sausage up to $1,000 per violation even if the words plant-based or vegan are used to modify the description of the product on the label.
Similar laws in other states were passed this year, and also face legal challenges, including laws enacted in Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana and South Dakota.
The Plant-Based Foods Associations lawsuit against the Mississippi law claims, “No reasonable consumer would be misled by these uses of these terms.”