On the front of a package of La Bonbonnerie butter wafers is the designation ‘vegan’. Good news for vegans you might think, they can now also enjoy the Old Dutch treat. But alas, it turns out to be misleading food information. The product contains 1% butter and is therefore not completely free of animal ingredients. A big line through ‘vegan’, but what about the ‘veggie’ designation? 

The complainant directed his complaint against the old packaging with the indication vegan as well as against the new packaging indicating veggie. Also veggie would not be possible according to the complainant: this would be a synonym for vegan. The chairman of the Advertising Code Committee believes that the average consumer will interpret 'veggie' as a synonym for vegetarian. Although no legal definition of vegetarian exists (yet) (nor, for that matter, for vegan), it is clear that a vegetarian diet is characterized by the absence of products for which animals have been (directly) killed. According to the Vegetarian Union, dairy products fit into a vegetarian diet. Therefore, the presence of butter (dairy) in the butter wafers does not hinder the use of the designation ‘veggie’, according to the president. 

Something else: European legislation prohibits suggesting that a food has a ‘special characteristic’ when all similar foods have the same characteristics. For example: fat-free lollipops - all lollipops are fat-free, therefore it is misleading to advertise this way. Does this also apply to La Bonbonnerie's veggie butter wafers? Other sweets are also free of meat/fish. So the vegetarian nature is not a ‘special characteristic’ for candy, from that thought, ‘veggie’ would be misleading. 

For ‘vegan’ candy this is different. Candy may contain ingredients of an animal nature, such as milk, yogurt or gelatin. For vegans or people with a dairy-free diet, the designation ‘vegan’ on the (candy) label is a welcome indication that the product is plant-based (free of animal ingredients). If candy is truly vegan, this may be said.

Lisanne Steenbergen

4 April 2023