The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued new draft guidelines on the use of the terms vegetarian and vegan following concerns that they are not being applied consistently across the food industry.
While vegan is widely understood to mean food that has not been made from or with the use of animals or animal products, the term vegetarian is more difficult to define, said the FSA.
"The rationale is to exclude products derived from the slaughter of animals or made with the use of such products, but to permit foods that are produced by, from or with the use of live animals, for example, eggs or honey," it said. Under the proposed new rules, manufacturers would not be able to label foods as vegetarian if they were made using processing aids derived from animal products, whether or not they are present in the final foodstuff. Exceptions would be where those aids originate from live animals, such as from eggs and milk. Additives, such as vitamins and colours on a gelatine base, would also be unsuitable for inclusion in products labelled vegan or vegetarian.
The guidelines, which have been put out for comment by October 5, were welcomed by the Vegetarian Society, which said the proposal was long overdue.
"Many people do not realise that there is currently no legal definition of vegan or vegetarian, although manufacturers can be challenged under the Food Safety Act or the Trades Description Act for misleading customers," said the Society. "If we can get a legal definition in place, that has to be a good thing."