Burger King’s Impossible Whopper and other plant-based burgers are getting pushback in Olympia.
Sen. Judy Warnick (R-Moses Lake) wants to require the packaging for hamburgers made from products other than beef be clear about the contents.
“I want to know that it’s vegetarian, if indeed it is, because if it says ‘burger’, to me, that means it comes from an animal. It’s an animal product," Warnick said.
Warwick’s bill would impose fines on companies that don’t properly label a plant-based product. It would apply to all types of products consumers might commonly associate with an animal.
The bill is opposed by the Good Food Institute, a non-profit that claims to promote more sustainable food systems. Mark Onley spoke for the organization at a hearing on Thursday.
“This bill would compel plant-based food producers to create new Washington-specific labels for products that use terms like ‘veggie burger’ and ‘soy sausage’, forcing producers to use up valuable space on the label to include unnecessary and burdensome language dictated by the state," Onley said.
Food industry and grocery lobbyists say plant-based foods are becoming more popular among consumers. They proposed to tweak the bill that would allow makers of those products to be more clear with their language, but not have to create specific labels just for foods sold in Washington stores.