The Good Food Institute, Animal Legal Defense Fund, and the American Civil Liberties Union have secured a court order that allows Tofurky to use terms like “sausage” or “burger” when accompanied by “vegan” or “plant-based” claims, in the state of Arkansas.
A lawsuit was filed by the three organizations on behalf of Tofurky and challenged the state law that would have made it illegal for companies to use words like “burger,” “roast,” and “sausage” to describe products that are not made from animals, such as veggie burgers. The law would have imposed fines of up to $1,000 for every plant-based and cultivated meat product marketed or packaged with a “meat” label. The labels would be subject to fines within state borders even if followed by modifiers such as “vegan,” “veggie,” or “plant-based.”
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas found the law unconstitutionally limited Tofurky’s free speech rights. It also found a provision of the law to be vague, prohibiting its enforcement statewide, and ensuring that it cannot be used to prosecute other plant-based food companies in the future.
In her order, Judge Kristine G. Baker found that the law prohibited Tofurky from using words, “to convey meaningful, helpful information to consumers about the products they are purchasing, and Tofurky's repeated indications that the food products contained in these packages contain no animal-based meat dispel consumer confusion."
The Arkansas law is similar to other meat-labeling laws passed in Mississippi, Louisiana, South Dakota, among other states; many of those laws also face legal challenges.
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