Mississippi Makes Selling ‘Veggie Burgers’ a Crime

Salmon burger, mushroom burger, shrimp burger, Americans like their burgers in all varieties. That is except lawmakers in Mississippi... who recently passed a new labeling law. Any companies caught breaking the law could have their products pulled off the shelves they could also be fine up to a thousand dollars. It just doesn't make any sense. Dan and Nicole run a vegan food company and under Mississippi's new law wouldn't be able to call their veggie burgers burgers We decided to fight back in court. Upton's Naturals and the Institute for Justice is filing a lawsuit against the state. The consumers are the ones that really lose with this new law. By taking away words that they clearly understand it's only gonna make it more difficult for them to know what they're buying. We call our vegan burger a burger because that's what it is. The usage, the addition of condiments, you eat it on a bun, everything about it is a burger. Real reason for the law is a protectionist move on the part of the Cattlemen's Association. That's hogwash. Andy Gibson is Mississippi's Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce. Consumers of Mississippi have been crying out confused about what's on the shelf. Is this meat? Is it not meat? We've never had a customer complaint about our label being unclear. The public is smart enough to know that when something says 100% vegan there are no animal products in that product at all. When people see those familiar terms it does help them to understand what they're getting. We already have a word that means burger and so we intend to use it. Why is Mississippi targeting plant-based foods. They're concerned with the rise in popularity of vegan foods. Plant-based meat alternatives are finding new customers. And Dan's business has been on the leading edge of that growth. Starting with basically no budget we went from seven, to twenty, to forty stores, and then the region by region and now are sold in all 50 states and in over 20 countries. Meat producers want to stall that growth with protectionist laws. But the First Amendment protects Dan's rights to label his products in a way consumers understand. We hope that with this lawsuit we'll protect the consumers' rights to understand clearly what it is they're purchasing. Economic protectionism is not only unconstitutional but also unAmerican. That's why Upton's naturals is suing Mississippi in federal court. What you call a burger is your business, not the government's.

Channel: Institute for Justice

Views: 111,750

Rating: 4.5916085 out of 5

Keywords: IJ, Institute for Justice, Freedom, Liberty, Individual Rights, Constitution, Constitutional Law, Unconstitutional Law, Con Law, Constitutional Litigation

Id: -sfh3wmuXTY

Length: 3min 5sec (185 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 14 2019