Vegans' fury at gelatine labels designed to stop food waste

The labels turn bumpy when the food goes off
Arla Foods
Alexandra Richards19 March 2018

A high tech food label that signals when food has gone off has come under fire from vegans for using gelatine in its product.

The innovative packaging which was designed by a UK start-up called Mimica uses gel in a special label which is smooth when the food is fresh but turns bumpy when it goes off.

The gel inside the label is made using gelatine which behaves in a similar way to the food inside the packaging.

As the gel reacts to changes in the packaged food it breaks down and becomes bumpy to signal the food is past its best.

The creators of the labels hope they will cut down on food waste, but some campaigners have condemned the technology.

Juliet Gellatley, founder and director of the vegan charity Viva said: “It’s extremely sad that there’s this reliance and acceptance that animal bones and tendons can be used in general products.

“We have survived this long without these labels, it just seems unnecessary.

“What society needs to be doing is working towards not using gelatine and not eating animals.”

Dominika Piasecka, spokeswoman for The Vegan Society, said: “We applaud and support efforts to cut down food waste but this should not come at the expense of animals.

“Gelatine is produced by boiling various animal parts such as their skin, tendons, cartilage, ligaments, or bones in water, making it unsuitable for vegans.

“Animal agriculture is a key contributor to food waste - huge amounts of crops are wasted one becoming feed for farmed animals while they could be used to feed many more people instead.

“We hope that a cruelty-free alternative to gelatine labels is used.”

Lynne Elliot, chief executive of the Vegetarian Society said there was no point in putting the labels on dairy products.

She said: "It won't be vegetarian and vegetarians won't be able to eat it."

Arla foods, a dairy cooperative which supplies milk, cheese and other dairy products to major UK Supermarkets is currently conducting consumer research on the labels to gauge public interest.

If the consumer research is a success then the company said it may take product trials further.

Tomas Pietrangeli, Managing Director for Arla Foods UK said: “We’re hoping that consumer research will suggest this should go to a wider trial.

“Mimica’s indicators are truly innovative and could not only help reduce food waste but also help those with visual impairments identify, through touch, when food is no longer safe to eat.”

When asked whether or not the use of gelatine in the products could put vegetarians off the product, a spokeswoman for the company said that it expects lots of different responses and that was why the company had chosen to carry out the consumer research.

She told the Standard that it had not made any concrete commitments to the label technology yet.

Solveiga Pakštaitė, Founder & Director of Mimica said: "We are really excited to be working so closely with a highly innovative organisation like Arla to bring accurate food spoilage information to consumers to provide peace of mind and the confidence to use food for longer.

It's important to Mimica that we work with companies that share our social values and vision."

The Standard has reached out to Mimica for further comment.

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