Analogue Meat Product Regulations: Agricultural Product Standards Act

Posted 23 July 2025 Written by Acts Online
Category Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development

Brought to you by SA Legal Academy: The Department of Agriculture has clarified the requirements for the labeling and sale of plant-based and synthetic meat alternatives under new regulations.

In terms of the Agricultural Product Standards Act, No. 119 of 1990, the Department of Agriculture has issued regulations regarding the classification, packing, and marking of analogue meat products. These regulations, which were recently gazetted, are scheduled to come into effect on 18 July 2026. The term ‘analogue meat’ refers to products that resemble meat in appearance, texture, and flavor but are manufactured from non-animal protein sources.

Once in force, the regulations under the Agricultural Product Standards Act, No. 119 of 1990 will:

  • Establish strict naming conventions to prevent the use of meat-specific terms for non-meat products unless they meet defined criteria.
  • Prescribe mandatory marking requirements for containers, including the specific placement and size of product descriptions.
  • Set compositional standards for various categories of analogue meat products.
  • Define the roles of assignees in inspecting and ensuring compliance with the new standards.

Compliance and Transition

The Department has provided a transition period until 18 July 2026 to allow the industry to exhaust existing packaging stocks and redesign labels to comply with the Agricultural Product Standards Act, No. 119 of 1990. This follows previous industry disputes regarding the seizure of plant-based products using meat-related terminology.

Click here to view the media statement and regulatory details.

What this means for you, your business, or your clients

  • For yourself: No direct individual obligations; impact is limited to maintaining technical knowledge of the 2026 compliance deadline for food labeling.
  • For your business: Compliance departments within food retail and manufacturing firms must initiate a gap analysis of current product lines against the new marking and classification standards.
  • For your clients: Clients in the plant-based food sector must review all branding and product nomenclature to ensure that terms traditionally reserved for meat products are either phased out or adjusted to meet the 2026 regulatory thresholds.

Originally published at https://legalacademy.co.za/news/read/analogue-meat-products-new-regulations-explained

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