The Argentine National Food Commission (CONAL) shared for public consultation a proposal seeking to include the category "vegetable drink preparation" in the Argentine Food Code in order to stablished specific rules for such products considering the great variety of them in the Argentinean market. 

???????According to the proposal, these products shall be as follows: 

1. "Vegetable drink preparation with Y% ..." when they contain only one distinctive ingredient, where "Y" corresponds to the percentage of a distinctive ingredient used, filling in the blank with the name of the pulses and/or dried fruits and/or coconut and/or seeds and/or quinoa and/or amaranth and/or amaranth and/or buckwheat and/or cereals and/or the equivalent of their flours, pastes and protein concentrates derived from the above, in characters of equal size, prominence, and visibility.
2. "Vegetable drink preparation mixed with Y% of ... and with Z% of ..." when containing more than one distinctive ingredient, where Y and Z correspond to the percentage of the distinctive ingredients used, filling in the blanks with the name of each of the distinctive ingredients.

It is worth mentioning that in view of the absence of specific rules, products on the Argentine market are currently labelled as "Drink based on .... (soya, oat, almond, etc.)", "Vegetable-based drink" (without linking the ingredient/flavour in the product name), "Drinkable vegetable food based on ... (soya, oat, almond, etc.)", among other names, that could lead to consumers misunderstanding on the true nature of these products.

The proposal also includes: 

1. Composition requirements. Mandatory ingredients must contain at leats 4% of the final weight or volume for dried fruits and/or peanuts and/or coconut and/or pulses and/or seeds and/or quinoa and/or amaranth and/or buckwheat and/or cereals and/or the equivalent of their flours, pastes and protein concentrates).
2. Other specific labelling requirements.
3. List of food additives allowed in the category. 

Once approved and published these changes will be immediately effective, however, companies will have 18 months to adapt their products and labels. 

This consultation closes on 5 May 2023. For more details to send comments, do not hesitate to contact us.

Reach us if you are interested in exploring opportunities for plant-based products in Argentina and across Latin America.

Published: 19 April, 2023

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