Bag of Milton's Protein Crackers at Costco Langford BC. Why bother advertising that it is "plant-based" when it contains milk? I mean, I've seen products stating that they "may contain milk" but this one straight up says it does black on white!

I'm being gaslit by a bag of crackers...

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[–] 10 points 4 months ago (1 child)

None of the ingredients seem to have dairy in it. Maybe it's a confusing way of disclosing cross-contamination in Canada?

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  • [–] 14 points 4 months ago

    To me it is pretty clear that it's advertising the protein as plant based (which it is, from the looks of it)

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago

    I think that's an allergy warning like "may contain traces" warnings, but probably more severe.

    The only ingredient which has any chance of being related to milk would be the "natural flavour" which could be anything. If you want to settle it for sure, you could contact the company and ask about it.

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  • [–] 17 points 4 months ago (35 children)

    Plant based and containing milk are not mutually exclusive....

    If it was vegan it'd say vegan?

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  • [–] 17 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (32 children)

    People usually assume plant based means "it's made entirely of plants" not "it's mostly made of plants"

    Since, by the second definition, anything not mostly animal products is plant based. Kind of pointless.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (19 children)

    Majority is still not a requirement.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago* (18 children)

    Then a meatloaf is plant based because it has crackers and spices in it. Fried chicken is plant based because it's breaded. 🤡

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (5 children)

    I agree in that it is misleading. But if you think "like a lawyer" it is technically correct. Hence, they can put it in the box

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  • [–] 0 points 4 months ago* (3 children)

    But if you think “like a lawyer” it is technically correct.

    Or if you think like a scam artist.

    Laws I'm familiar with are based on what a reasonable consumer would think, and it's reasonable to think "plant based" means "made of plants". They can get away with a lot of weasel words and misleading statements, but there are limits.

    But maybe the standard in BC is different.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (10 children)

    What an obnoxiously stupid comparison lol

    If you eat a salad with chicken, that's meat-based protein

    If you eat one with beans, that's plant-based protein

    This label isn't abusing language to make a false claim. It's meat-free protein

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  • [–] -2 points 4 months ago* (9 children)

    Uh huh.

    So if it's a bean burrito made with added lard and cheese, it's plant based? After all, it's plant-based protein!

    It's nonsense. What's even the point of having a label that says "plant based" if it doesn't mean "made of plants"?

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (7 children)

    The burrito would have plant-based protein, yes. The burrito would not be plant-based. It doesn't say the chips are plant-based, it says the protein is plant-based. Like it doesn't even seem like they're trying to trick you.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (6 children)

    What the fuck? The whole reason people buy things that are plant-based is because they don't want to eat animals - either vegans or environmentalists or other conscious consumers. No one who is shopping for plant based protein wants lard in their food. What's the point of the "plant-based" label if it doesn't mean "made of plants"? Who is it for? It's fucking stupid.

    Why are you defending this? These kinds of ticky-tacky advertising technicalities just make the consumer's experience worse.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (4 children)

    I think you're misreading the label. The two highlighted things are "milk" and "lait," not lard. Lait is French for milk.

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  • [–] -1 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    No, I used "lard" as an example of why your argument doesn't make sense.

    If it's plant-based protein, then by your definition lard should be an acceptable ingredient.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (2 children)

    Oh. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt that you weren't creating another strawman but I guess you've just actually never heard of vegetarians

    Anyway, got any other fake products you want to accuse me of defending?

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago* (1 child)

    No, explain it to me. I'm fucking stupid and can't understand your arguments because you're so much smarter than me.

    By your definition, why can't you label a bean burrito with lard a plant-based protein? The protein is plant based! What's the difference?

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    Wow way to victimize yourself, I don't think you're stupid. I think you're deliberately obtuse and looking for a reason to be mad.

    The other major brand of chips uses chicken as the protein source. They taste like chicken. This label is saying the protein is from plants. Kind of a big deal for vegetarians. Probably doesn't taste like chicken, either! Kind of a big selling point for me who don't like the flavor and texture of the other brand.

    The 0.01% of milk in these chips doesn't mean the protein was sourced from something other than plants.

    I've never seen a strawman burritos so I can't really comment there

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  • [–] 0 points 4 months ago (11 children)

    Based =/= made entirely from.

    But I am also the person who gets frustrated in the freezer section when companies use green packaging and the food is NOT vegan or vegetarian.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago (10 children)

    If it doesn't mean "made entirely from" then it doesn't mean anything.

    By that definition, spaghetti and meatballs is plant based as long as it's mostly made of wheat and tomato sauce.

    Gibberish.

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  • [–] 0 points 4 months ago (8 children)

    But that is correct. And I dont like it either.

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  • [–] -2 points 4 months ago* (7 children)

    It doesn't meet the "reasonable consumer" standard. A reasonable consumer would not think "plant based" means anything other than "made entirely of plants" - though that's US law, no idea about BC.

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  • [+] 1 point 4 months ago (6 children)
  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago* (5 children)

    Again, this implies nonsense like all pizzas being plant based because the pizza is mostly made of wheat. It effectively makes the label meaningless, just a way to trick people and not actually meaningful information.

    I could see a lawsuit coming out of it. It's a misleading label, and they have to know it.

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  • [+] 1 point 4 months ago (4 children)
  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago* (3 children)

    Again, if "plant-based" does not mean "made of plants" then it means nothing.

    I check the labels of everything I buy, but if I see a product that says it is "plant based" and then look and see non-plant ingredients on the label then I want the people responsible to be punished. You seem to want them to be able to get away with weasel-y mealymouthed marketing bullshit. You're defending scammers and I don't understand why. They should face consequences imo

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  • [+] 1 point 4 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago* (1 child)

    You seem to think that people who label products containing animal products as "plant-based" should get away with it. Is this not the case? Because if so, you are defending them, because you're essentially saying we should live in a "buyer beware" world and that the customer is to blame for being scammed.

    Mealymouthed misleading advertising bullshit should be illegal, corporate advertising freaks who trick consumers with clever labeling tricks should get prison time.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    There was a big push a few years ago to come up with an alternative to "vegan" to put on packaging, and they came up with "Plant-based" as the euphemism of choice. I don't recall what the major driver was, it was either from vegans who say veganism entails more than just "don't put animal products directly into the product" or if it was manufacturers who thought the word "vegan" would scare away normies after decades of bad mouthing.

    I saw it coming immediately that plant-based doesn't mean "vegan but they didn't bother certifying" but rather that it means "has some part that is mostly plants", see the Jimmy Dean plant based patty sandwiches.

    If it ain't got that (V) you gotta start deciphering the ingredients list cause those Fulkerson will put in anything

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago

    It's the "contains milk" part that seems like it might be false advertising.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (1 child)

    I once asked for a Vegan paddy burger 🍔. They added bacon to it! WTF!

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