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This Word Can Get You Arrested in Mississippi
Hint: it rhymes with “beggie turgor”
Some people just want to watch the world eat veggies. But not lawmakers in Mississippi, who banned companies from using the term “veggie burger” on food packaging.
It sounds satirical, but it’s true. The penalty for labeling a non-meat patty as a veggie “burger” is up to a year in prison.
The law was put into place to protect cattle farmers. The crux of the argument is that labeling non-meat items as “veggie burgers” is deceptive, but let’s look at the term hamburger. Traditionally, it’s made with beef, not ham. That sounds an awful lot like false advertising. Who’s deceiving whom?
The argument has already gone through with “almond milk,” and the dairy industry lost. As a sometimes-vegetarian (and attempted vegan), I’ve seen all the terms: “chick’n nuggets,” “Tofurky,” “nice cream” (I really like that one, for a dessert made with almond milk), and, perplexingly, “veggie meatballs,” which really are confusing, but what else would you call them? “Veggie spheres”?
I don’t know anyone who bought a package of veggie burgers and was shocked that they didn’t contain meat. But the items are increasingly showing up on grocery shelves and in restaurants, and customers are buying them. Burger King is rolling out the…
