Poll: Does meat mean meat?

Photo/File

Winston Peters was reported this week as saying it is time to stop the manufacturers of meatless products ripping off terms associated with the real thing.

"This is serious for New Zealand because there's no such thing as 'vegetarian steak', 'vegetarian mince' or 'mock chicken'," he said.

"What's at stake is the integrity of our meat exports that are worth over $6 billion, let alone the livelihoods of thousands of Kiwis, many of whom live in provincial New Zealand and especially Northland."

Mr Peters compares protecting the integrity of meat and primary products from illegitimate knockoffs with the same reasons as preventing the sale of cheap unlicensed copies of All Blacks merchandise.

"Meat is meat, so why is this government allowing such blatant misdescriptions to go unchallenged?" he asks.

"The same applies to non-dairy products like 'soymilk' and most bizarre of all, 'dairy-free cheese'. Another threat to $11 billion worth of exports."

What do you think? Vote in our poll above