Many Meats and Many Milks? The Ontological Politics of a Proposed Post-animal Revolution

Figures & data

Figure 1. Perfect Day’s ‘animal-free milk.’ Image credit: instagram.com/perfectdayfoods, reproduced with permission.

Figure 2. Beyond Meat^® packaging. Photo by author.

Table 1. Legal definitions of meat and milk in the USA and the European Union.

Substance	Prominent ‘post-animal’ developments	US FDA definition	EU definition
Meat	Beyond Meat, Impossible Meat, Quorn™, Tofu- and soy-based products, cultured meat	‘…the flesh of animals used as FOOD including the dressed flesh of cattle, swine, sheep, or goats and other edible animals, except fish, poultry, and wild game animals’ (FDA, 2013)	The “edible parts,” including blood, of Domestic ungulates, poultry, lagomorphs, wild game, farmed game, small wild game, large wild game. (EU 853/2004)
Milk	Soy milk, almond milk, Oatly, Perfect Day	‘…the lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows’ (FDA, 2018)	‘…exclusively the normal mammary secretion obtained from one or more milkings without either addition thereto or extraction therefrom’ (EU 1898/1987)
Eggs	No-egg, Just, Clara Foods	‘No regulation shall be promulgated fixing and establishing a reasonable definition and standard of identity for the food commonly known as eggs’ (FDA, 2018)	‘…eggs in shell – other than broken, incubated or cooked eggs – that are produced by hens of the species Gallus gallus and are fit for direct human consumption or for the preparation of egg products’ (EU 589/2008)

FDA (2013) Food Code 2013. Available at https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/RetailFoodProtection/FoodCode/UCM374510.pdf (accessed 22 February 2017).

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EU (2004) Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004: laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin. Available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32004R0853R(01) (accessed 22 February 2017).

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FDA (2018) Code of Federal Regulations Title 21. Available at https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm (accessed 18 September 2018).

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EU (1987) Council Regulation (EEC) No 1898/87 of 2 July 1987 on the protection of designations used in marketing of milk and milk products. Available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A31987R1898 (accessed 22 February 2017).

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EU (2008) Commission Regulation (EC) No 589/2008 of 23 June 2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards marketing standards for eggs. Available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32008R0589 (accessed 22 February 2017).

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