The Plant Based Foods Association has joined with a vegan food maker to sue Mississippi for a new state law banning terminology associated with meat on labels of meatless foods, the news site Markets Insider reported.

The law, which went into effect July 1, restricts companies from using "meat" on their labels or descriptors associated with meat. For example, "meatless meatballs" and "veggie burgers" are both banned.

PBFA and the Chicago-based Upton's Naturals Co. sued Mississippi in federal court, arguing the new law violates First Amendment free speech rights.

"It creates a logistical nightmare and huge cost," PBFA Executive Director Michele Simon told Markets Insider. The law would require businesses to create region-specific labels for Mississippi, even if they already label their products as "100% vegan," she explained.

Lawmakers in several states have sought in recent years to restrict the use of "meat" and "milk" on food labels at the urging of meat and dairy producers, who say the laws are needed to avoid consumer confusion.

"A food product made of insect-protein should not be deceptively labeled as beef," Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson said in a statement responding to the lawsuit. "Someone looking to purchase tofu should not be tricked into buying lab-grown animal protein. Words mean something." http://bit.ly/2Jld2Gk

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