Vegan Food Series: Exploring the Vegan Food Landscape

Exciting times ahead as we kick off a brand-new series on our Assurance in Action podcast, diving deep into a topic that's gaining immense popularity—Vegan Food! 

Join our host for this episode, Patrick McNamara, as he explores the latest trends in veganism, from allergen management and global labeling standards to how different regions around the world are embracing plant-based lifestyles. 

Speakers:

• John Points from IFST discusses Vegan Claims.
• Vicky Kusnierz talks about Global Labeling.
• Kerim Ersin leads a fascinating ‘Round the World’ discussion on the rise of veganism in Turkey.

#DidYouKnow our Turkey Team was the first country to adopt the Intertek Vegan program. Tune in to learn more!

Visit our website to learn more about our Vegan Food Programme

Follow us on- Intertek's Assurance In Action || Twitter || LinkedIn.

Chapters

• 1:11 John Points on Allergens and Vegan Claims
• 11:56 Vicky Kusnierz on Global Labelling Standards
• 19:02 Round the World: Intertek Turkey

Transcript

Refaya Zaman Priya: 0:10

Hello and welcome to Assurance and Action, the podcast where we explore the latest trends and insights in the world of food safety, quality, and sustainability. This is Refaya Zaman Priya , the global social media marketing manager for Intertek Business Assurance Food Services, and Caleb Brett. Today we are kicking off at exciting new series on a topic that's gaining immense popularity and importance , vegan food. And this first episode we'll be diving deep into various aspects of vegan food, from allergen management to global labeling standards, and even a special segment on how different regions around the world are embracing veganism. Our host for this episode is Patrick McNamara, global Innovations and Quality Manager for Food Services, who will be guiding us through today's discussions with our expert guests. Let's get started. To kick off our conversation, Patrick will be speaking with John Points , who will shed light on the critical aspects of allergen management and vegan claims. Here's Patrick with the first segment. Enjoy .

Patrick McNamara: 1:24

Hello everyone. Now, one of the recent areas of focus for foods making vegan claims has been on allergen labeling and research shows that many people consider vegan foods to be safe for consumers with allergies to dairy or egg proteins, for example. But can the claims of vegan and free from be treated equally? How much risk is there to allergic to consumers from this perception? And what does the law actually demand? Now to guide us through some of the key parts of this topic I have with me, independent food consultant and scientific chair of the IFST John Points . Welcome, John.

John Points: 2:10

Thanks, pat.

Patrick McNamara: 2:11

It's a pleasure to have you with us. Um , if we could start then perhaps on the legal position , um, what is the current legal position on making a vegan claim?

John Points: 2:23

Well , basically the , the , the legal position is, is a claim shouldn't, shouldn't mislead consumers. And , and that's the law in Europe and the uk, but there's no, there's no , um, specific definition of vegan. So, so people understand vegan is not containing animal derived ingredients. Um, there's the claim vegan, there are additionally kite mark schemes, for example, the vegan society of the UK, where, where companies could apply to and get a kite mark on their food. But it's been approved by the vegan society. But those are private schemes for commercial schemes effectively. It's not a yeah , it's not a illegal.

Patrick McNamara: 3:03

Yeah, no, I , I understand. So the schemes themselves may have a definition Yeah. But there's no regulation that defines Yeah . Vegan in, in the uk. Um, it's interesting, as I alluded to in the introduction, there was a u gov survey run in the UK in January of this year, and that survey showed that 72% of participants believe that vegan food doesn't contain any ingredients derived from animals, therefore making it safe for individuals with allergies. But how dangerous might that misconception of vegan labeling be , um, when they're equating it with allergen labeling, which is really about food safety?

John Points: 3:45

Yeah, I mean, I , I think probably the issue is people don't appreciate that the detail and the work and the , and the governance that goes behind make it a free from claim. Uh, so, so people with allergies, it , it could be tiny amounts that, that trigger the allergy. So rather than an ingredient being in there, it could be cross-contamination, you know, it could be either in the food itself where it's made , um, from, from milk or eggs or whatever, or even within one of the ingredients they using further down the chain might have been cross-contaminated. So to make a free from claim , you've gotta have really rigorous controls in place to control that cross-contamination risk. Um, and different retailers who will have different standards and they'll get audited and there's cleaning verification, and some of them may even have policies that are not allowed a certain ingredient on site so that there's no risk of cross-contamination, whereas vegan just means it doesn't deliberately contain that particularly ingredient. But it might be that, that somebody buys an ingredient to go in their for good product, and the factory that that mate was made in also makes milk or cheese containing products, and there's a little bit of cross contamination. So, so you've got no guarantee against that . And, and those tiny amounts can be enough to trigger for most severe allergies. So it's not the same. No, I mean that it is definitely not the same.

Patrick McNamara: 5:17

Yeah. That , that , that , that's interesting. So where free from restrictions and controls and not in place, how significant might the risk of cross-contamination be? Is it something that we think producers of vegan foods take seriously enough the cross-contamination?

John Points: 5:37

Um , um, I mean, basically if you , if you've, if you've got one of those severe allergies , you should take it seriously. Um, but it is , it is not a huge risk. I mean, I don't want to overplay it . It's , it's not common, but it's, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility , uh, that that might be, might be, you know , very trace level cross from somewhere. And there have been cases , uh, of, of, certainly I'm not, I'm not aware of, of cases where, where somebody's been severely made ill by analogy and in a vegan product, but there have been cases where, where it's been detected through testing and things have been taken off the shelves Mm-Hmm . Or withdrawn from sale. Uh , because , um, although it's not the same, there's, there's probably a fairly reasonable expect expectations in a lot of people's mind if they don't appreciate the difference, if they see something labeled vegan and they've got milk allergy, it's, it is gonna be okay for them and say it's not

Patrick McNamara: 6:39

Necessarily . Yeah , I , I would agree. I , I think the high profile cases of people , um, being ill or , or even dying from , um, cross-contamination with, you know, dairy products, for instance, in vegan foods has come in , uh, hospitality restaurants and things like that rather than, than retail. Uh , and , and of course as well with retail, there is precautionary allergen labeling and, and we would probably advise consumers with allergies buying vegan products to look at precaution allergen labeling. Yeah.

John Points: 7:11

But it , but again, probably brands are , are reluctant to put , put that on, you know , it doesn't look right, does it? If you , if you've got , um, you know, vegan milk, substitute brackets may contain milk. Um , it just,

Patrick McNamara: 7:27

Yeah, yeah. That doesn't ,

John Points: 7:30

The marketing.

Patrick McNamara: 7:31

Yes, yes, it does. But of course, the alternative is, is to mislead the consumer about the level of risk. And, and talking about that, what do you think food businesses can do to reduce their risk of cross contamination , uh, when producing vegan foods?

John Points: 7:48

Well, I , I think it goes down probably to, to, to the , the , the risk management procedure that food businesses or of a certain size have to legally have in place is something called hazard and critical control points. And part of that, the first step of that is you consider who the consumer is and whether they're vulnerable on their , what their expectations are. So if, if a producers of a vegan food have in their mind that their consumers are people who might be buying that with a reasonable expectation, but it doesn't contain allergens, then that would drive the controls such as , um, you know, time segregation when , when they're manufacturing different products, so they don't have cross-contamination between one product and another. They have cleaning intervals between them. They may be audit or require self-certification from their own suppliers, but there's not the same sort of cross-contamination risk further down chain , et cetera , et cetera . So , so, so making that risk assessment in the first place of who's gonna be consuming the product and what their expectations are then drives the controls that it would be something much closer to the controls you have when you're producing the fee free from food.

Patrick McNamara: 9:10

Yeah . No , I understand. And of course, that risk assessment should also be the basis of any precautionary labeling that you have as well. Yes .

John Points: 9:18

Yeah,

Patrick McNamara: 9:19

Yeah, yeah. Which is, is in yeah . Important to remember. Um , we talked right at the outset , um, we said, you know, you explained quite well that there isn't actually a binding definition of vegan. Do we think a legally binding definition would benefit business or the consumer? Neither or both?

John Points: 9:39

I'm , I'm , I'm not sure it would , uh, to be honest. Um, I'm , I mean, there , there is, there , there is a , a definition of expectation at vegan. It doesn't contain, you know, animal derived ingredients. Um, and everybody understands that. I'm not sure that tying it down to, to some sort of analytical specification, you know, it must be less than one part per billion of, of milk protein or whatever it might be. What would help , uh, and it would, would end up probably with, with industry and regulators tying themselves in not trying to either interpret or enforce it. So , um, yeah, I'm , I'm , I'm , I'm not sure it would, I think it's much more of the food producers having in front of their mind who their consumers are and what their expectations are, and the consumers are being educated to , to know that there is a, there is a difference. And actually vegan doesn't guarantee completely free from,

Patrick McNamara: 10:44

And I think that's the route the FSA have gone, haven't they?

John Points: 10:47

They have some , there's some very good guidance on the UK

Patrick McNamara: 10:50

FSA website. Yes . Yes . I did say that. I , uh, I think , um, and this isn't a question for now , but it was something that somebody brought up with me an allergen conference read recently, and they said that they understand the limitations of the vegan definition. They understand that they need to take care about the products they buy and read the labels. Um , but they wondered, is this as good as it's ever going to get for us? And , and I , I think the , um, the perception is that the onus is now on them as consumers to, to, you know, check things carefully. And I think there was a hope perhaps that things might get better or the controls might improve. We live in hope. We live in hope. Yeah . But , um, John, thank you so much for your time. It's been an absolute pleasure to have you on the show. Appreciate you coming on and enlightening us on this subject.

John Points: 11:44

Alright . Thanks very much Pat.

Patrick McNamara: 11:45

And for anybody listening in today, I urge you to follow John and follow his work with the IFST, but also with the Food Authenticity Network, it is a very good spend of your time.

Refaya Zaman Priya: 11:56

Now that we have covered the essentials of allergens and vegan claims, Patrick will dive deeper into the topic with Victoria Kusnierz , uh, from our global labeling team. Let's listen in

Patrick McNamara: 12:08

On this program. I'm joined by Vicki Kusnierz from Intertek's Global Labeling Team. U h, V icki, thank you so much for being with us today.

Victoria Kusnierz: 12:18

Yeah, thanks Patrick. Thanks for having me. Um, I'm pleased to be involved with this interesting project.

Patrick McNamara: 12:24

Uh , lovely to have you . Now, in the previous session with John Point , he touched on the importance of labeling in informing consumers about product risk. In general terms, what do vegan or plant-based manufacturers need to consider when creating food labels?

Victoria Kusnierz: 12:43

Well , um, a vegan label , uh, for a food product must initially comply with all of the regulatory requirements that are exactly the same as a , a normal food product. So it would include things like , uh, the presence of a product name to fully identify the product. Um, this might be coupled with a further description so that the consumer can understand exactly what the product contains and what it might be used for. So for example, they might need to identify whether a source is for use , um, as a topping at the table or a cooking source. Uh , and that should be identifiable , uh, by the, by the consumer. Uh , there also might be some imagery on the product, so that might show the pictures of the ingredients that are present or show it in a actual , um, in use on the table. And then they would need to type serving suggestion. Um, and that would be included , um, on the label. So claims might appear around the label, so free from claims, allergen claims, nutritional claims, high end protein, that sort of thing. Um, and then you would have the factual information also on the label, so your net weight, your ingredients list, storage instructions best before , um, things like that . Um, an additional thing that you might see on a label, particularly for a vegan product, might be , uh, the logo of any societies eg the vegan society showing that the product has met with their specific criteria.

Patrick McNamara: 14:17

Yeah . And understood. I I think that the key message there is that , um, this is your, your key information medium to the consumer. So it needs to be accurate and it needs to properly reflect the nature of the product, I think is what we're saying. Yeah,

Victoria Kusnierz: 14:34

That's correct. And also, obviously you're going to have the ingredients list , um, on the product information and potentially some , um, allergen label advice as well.

Patrick McNamara: 14:46

Yeah, sure. Now, one of the things we touched on in the previous session was on precautionary allergen labeling. Um, for people who aren't perhaps familiar with the terminology, could you explain what precaution allergen labeling is?

Victoria Kusnierz: 15:02

Um, yes . So the manufacturers will use precautionary allergen labeling , uh, for the safety of consumers. Uh , so they will carry out a risk assessment to determine the likelihood of any allergens being present in their product. Um, and this can be through unintentional cross-contamination of either the products manufactured on their site or potentially the ingredients which they're putting into their products produced at other facilities. Um, the expansion of vegan food has meant that many traditional producers , um, have added vegan as an extra line , um, to their product portfolio. So other , um, products might be present on site . So if one of the 14 allergens, which is not an ingredient to the product, is being identified as a potential risk of being present, even at really small levels in the product, then um, the manufacturers will put a may contain statement , um, on a label to notify people that that particular , um, ingredient, that particular allergen could be , um, at risk of being present.

Patrick McNamara: 16:11

Sure. Um , I , I think as well, I think it's important to emphasize that precautionary allergen labeling should be driven by proper risk assessment, and that it's not something that you should do initially just to cover yourself. It should be something that's done via a thorough risk assessment of the process.

Victoria Kusnierz: 16:30

Yes, that's right. And it's also , um, worth noting that these volunt , these statements are voluntary , um, on a pack . So the manufacturer is not legally obliged to include it, although it might be misleading if they don't , um, include it and then it is present , um, in the product. So a little bit of a gray area. Uh ,

Patrick McNamara: 16:51

Yeah, I , I think the message is if there is a risk, you should be highlighting it to consumers. And, and just for , uh, people who , again, may not be familiar with it , where would you tend to find precaution, reality labeling on packaging?

Victoria Kusnierz: 17:07

Okay, so , um, on a, on a typical food label, you will have your ingredients list, which shows the information on all of the ingredients which are present in the product , um, intentionally. And then following that, then you might have , um, an indication of allergens that are presented within the product , uh, which would highlight how the product , the allergens are , um, informed within the ingredients list, but also and may contain statement that would highlight any potential risk. So this would be maybe in a separate little box or a separate little area , um, easily highlighted and easily seen following the ingredients list. Or sometimes it will be , um, just an additional piece of text kind of following on from the ingredients list. So a little bit more difficult to spot, but at the bottom of the ingredients list may contain and a list of the potential , um, risk elements that could be there. Sure. So you could get a product which , um, for example , um, is a vegan product, which will then say, may contain milk, may contain eggs , uh, may contain fish, that sort of , that sort of risk.

Patrick McNamara: 18:25

Yeah. No , that , that's great. Vicki . Thank you very much for explaining. So I , I think that's the message. Consumers, check your food labels carefully, manufacturers, make sure your labels are compliant. And for those of you listening, if you would like to add the Intertech vegan verified logo to your products, you can take part in our vegan control program. And for more information on that, or indeed for any labeling compliance support, you can check out intertech.com/food . Uh , Vicki cos thank you so much for being with us today.

Victoria Kusnierz: 18:59

Thank you for having me.

Patrick McNamara: 19:01

Pleasure.

Refaya Zaman Priya: 19:02

Finally, we begin the first in our round the world discussions with the focus on Turkey Patrick, along with Kerim Ersin from our Intertek Turkey team will explore how vegan food trends are evolving there. Over to you, Patrick.

Patrick McNamara: 19:20

Uh , as you know, as part of our monthly peak at Global Vegan and Plant-based markets, this month we're in Turkey, and I'm proud to be joined by Intertek Kerim Ersin. Kerim, welcome to the program.

Kerim Ersin: 19:34

Yeah, thank you very much, Pait . Uh , first of all, I would like to introduce myself , uh, my name is Kerim Ersin. I am the Food Engineer. I joined Intertek in 2020 , and I'm working at Intertek as a leader and trainer. Also , I'm for sector business development executor in local. Uh , also I'm responsible for B-R-C-G-S program , uh, as a global technical manager. Uh , as of 2023 , we continue to support our clients , uh, with audit and training services with our subject matter experts by taking intech standard into our service scope . I hope it'll be very useful and informative to all food sectors.

Patrick McNamara: 20:16

Uh , that , that's great. Kerim and, and just to point out that Intertek Turkey, we're pretty much the first country to adopt the Intertek Vegan program, so welcome to the team down there. Um, how would you describe the vegan market in Turkey right now?

Kerim Ersin: 20:31

Yeah. Uh , so yeah , uh, that's a good question. And the wagon product, product and , uh, certification process has been increased significantly in Turkey for the last five years. Uh , this situation is determined by main factors such as changing customer demands and needs change in consumption patterns , uh, customer demand company desire to use of logos and processing the market. Uh , therefore many companies in tur are include inverse vacant certification programs with within this scope as Intertek Turkey. Uh , we joined this program due to the increasing demand for certification and , uh, customers trust in Intertek , uh, a growing number of customers , uh, are considering vegetarian , uh, veganism or flex approach because of the ED health benefits and well balanced plant-based diet diet offers.

Patrick McNamara: 21:32

Yeah. And, and that's what we're hearing from , from other countries too, Kira , is that , um, there is an increase in, in being flexitarian vegetarian or , or vegan. So , um, what do you think are the reasons perhaps behind the growing interest in vegan and plant-based foods ?

Kerim Ersin: 21:49

Yeah. Um , actually we , we can , uh, we can list many reasons , uh, for this , uh, like sustainable, life efficient use of resources , uh, changing construction patterns , uh, confidence in certification , uh, customer demands , uh, customer pre preference , uh, and also increasing the availability of vacant products , uh, will enable the market expansion. Customers , uh, will benefit by having increased confidence in their purchases, wide availability and variant of choice. In this point, we are providing all promotes a systems based and facility certification approach to prevent failure , uh, reduces the risk associated with relink solid and , um, on and product animal input testing. Uh , trained and approved auditors and training providers. Uh , compress , uh, support package opens new markets and increase business opportunities. Um , increasing the availability of vegan product choices for a growing customer market, will brand trust , but associate customer , uh, products with on unpack trademark and , uh, provides marketing tools and public recognition on Intertech webpage.

Patrick McNamara: 23:09

Yeah, that , that , that's interesting because , um, the growing take up of , um, vegan certification by businesses , is obviously about building brand trust with consumers and provides a good marketing tool for their business. Actually. It gives them a very high profile. So our restaurants responding to consumers looking for vegan options. Are there more vegan options in restaurants in Turkey?

Kerim Ersin: 23:39

Yeah . Uh , currently in Turkey , uh, restaurants are creating many concepts in this context. Uh , information about the content of the males is provided. Uh, the suitability for re conception is stated. Uh , some special designs suitable for re conceptions are created , created , uh, in the manners also. Yeah. Uh ,

Patrick McNamara: 24:00

That , that , that , that's really good to know. So yeah , big pieces , visitors to Turkey, going to anchor Istanbul or wherever they go, they can be assured that there will be an option for them. Istanbul, of course , huge city- very many visitors. So it , it's good that they're catering for vegan visitors. Yes. Um, do you have a recommendation for vegan visitors to Turkey?

Kerim Ersin: 24:21

Yeah, actually , uh, already that an suggestion. Turkey has a very wide menu in terms of foods. Uh, I think everybody knows that. So you can find every product that you are looking for Sure . For and what to eat in Turkey. Yeah, we are open, everybody

Patrick McNamara: 24:38

Well , that , that , that's brilliant. It's good to know that the Turkey is open for business for all consumers, whatever their dietary choice is . Um , yeah . Okay. That , that's great. Kieran , thank you for, for joining us. Yeah . I think , um, um, you're welcome. I think we're pretty much out of time. I think we could talk more about the Intertek vegan standard, which I think we're gonna have a a another program on that. So perhaps you'll join us for a future program, specifically about the standard.

Kerim Ersin: 25:07

Yes . Uh , maybe we can add , uh, some information, small information as a result , uh, with more customers purchasing vegan food, either as part of vegan diet or to reduce their meat consumption , labeling is essential. That's because , uh, customers are more likely to purchase a product that is a certification label , uh, which can cause confusion in the industry that has generally been , uh, self-regulated. However, most customers , uh, don't trust labels alone that merrily such a product is free from . But Intertek Vegan program , uh, delivers the industry's most technically advanced and size based management system. So , uh, for that reason, we can choose Intertek Vegan standard.

Patrick McNamara: 25:52

Okay, perfect. Yeah . Um , and that, that's perfectly summarized the program, so hopefully that'll , uh, give people an appetite for more information. So , um, if, if people have more questions or technical information, you can contact either me or Kerim or go to the intertek.com/food. Kerim, thank you very much for joining us today. Really appreciate your time.

Kerim Ersin: 26:16

Yeah, you're welcome. And thank you , uh, Patrick. Thank you very much.

Refaya Zaman Priya: 26:22

That wraps up the first episode of our vegan food series on assurance and action. We hope you enjoyed this in-depth exploration of vegan food, from allergen management to global labeling standards and insights from Turkey's growing vegan movement. Thank you for tuning in. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform. Stay tuned for our next episode to dive deeper into the world of vegan food. Until next time, this is Refaya Zaman Priya , signing off. Thank you everyone.