The National Chicken Council has requested both the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to strictly enforce regulations relating to potentially misleading labels. At issue is the evidence from a recent survey of consumer attitudes relating to plant-
based alternatives. Tom Super, NCC Senior Vice President of Communications noted, “People should not have to waste time at the grocery store dissecting whether they are about to purchase real chicken or a imitation product, let alone discover they have wound up with the wrong product when they get home.”
The NCC claim that the study demonstrated support for descriptive packaging and separate shelf placement for real and imitation chicken. As with many proposals on labeling the term chicken should be reserved for product with an origin in a flock. Approximately 20 percent of respondents reported accidental purchase of plant-based products while intending to purchase chicken.
Approximately 70 percent of U.S. respondents considered that the term “meat” should be reserved for products derived from animals.
The NCC regard any product as misbranded if not of direct chicken origin but labeled as “chicken” either in text or by image. This follows from the definition of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. The Poultry Products Inspection Act prohibits false labeling of products.