The French government issued a decree Tuesday banning the term “steak” on the label of vegetarian products, saying it was reserved for meat alone.

  • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    I don’t know if that’s a mandated thing where you live but some products don’t seem to have it on the top of the packaging (could have it on backside) and when they have it it is pretty small and in the corner, with the name of the product (the misleading part) and the picture taking up most space. And I’ve seen meat and non-meat products next to each other when it’s ready to eat stuff, sometimes sausages.

    It seems so unnecessary. It’s like they’re embarrassed of the product or something.

    • Exocrinous@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      So you’re saying a picture of the food was front and centre, you could see exactly what it looked like, and you still managed to buy the wrong thing by accident?

      Maybe the fact that you can’t tell the products apart is a sign that there’s some sort of similarity or common denominator between them. If only we had some sort of linguistic function to indicate that two objects are similar.

      • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        Photo of it might be of a very generic burger or a sausage. Some even had the word burger or sausage as the biggest print in the box, much bigger than anything else.

        Maybe the fact that you can’t tell the products apart is a sign that there’s some sort of similarity or common denominator between them. If only we had some sort of linguistic function to indicate that two objects are similar.

        It’s not just a personal thing. But obviously considering the reaction and expectation of the people were of a meat product but they got an imitation product. It just seems shady.

        Not to mention in reality the products aren’t very similar but the box and the branding can mislead to think you it was the thing you were hoping to buy. Just seems weird.

        • Exocrinous@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          “Oh no! I was expecting an animal to have been kept in a cage, but instead this is an identical cruelty-free sausage!”

          If it quacks like a duck it’s a duck. If it sauces like a sausage it’s a sausage.

          • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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            8 months ago

            The consumer expectation would typically be of a meat product and they’re misleading you that that’s what you were buying instead of highlighting what sort of product it actually is. It just seems anti-consumer and like they’re embarrassed of the actual product, to not highlight the fact it’s an imitation product.

            Seems unnecessary. If these are good products you’d think they’d stand on their own.

            • Exocrinous@lemm.ee
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              8 months ago

              Y tho. Why do you care that it’s meat? You know I might be in the minority here, but the reason I eat food is cause it’s nutritious and tastes good. Not because it’s meat.

              • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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                8 months ago

                It’s just what people want to buy in this case. Could be familiarity, taste, some other features of the product.

                You know I might be in the minority here, but the reason I eat food is cause it’s nutritious and tastes good. Not because it’s meat.

                I think most consumers have more expectations from products they’re buying that it’s just nutritious. Having expectations on the actual ingredients is very common.

                tastes good

                Usually the products in question taste different from what they’re imitating. That’s one of the issues.

                • Exocrinous@lemm.ee
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                  8 months ago

                  I’ve never seen fake meat that looked like meat but didn’t taste like it. Except for when it tasted better. Then again, I may be biased, because I dislike the taste of guilt.

                  • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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                    8 months ago

                    Our building has a lot of vegetarian and vegan families so I got to sample a lot of vegan imitation products. I’ve never tasted one that got it right or very close at all. Mind you, most of them taste good but it’s just nowhere near the same. And imo they needn’t be, could just be its own thing but well, they chose a different path.

                    But in any case, the issue is that the consumer thinks they’re buying one thing and get another thing. And the manufacturer in question seems to intentionally be trying to cause that mistake. Just seems shady and unnecessary, since some of these products are fine, even though they’re not the same as the product they were imitating.