Vegan cafe defies CFIA order to stop using words burger, cheese

A vegan restaurant owner in Kanata is defying a Canadian Food Inspection Agency order to stopusing"cheese" and "burger" to describe items on her menua risk she said she's willing to take.

"I'd like to see where it goes in the future, working with some animal justice lawyers," said MelanieBoudens, owner of Grow Your Roots Cafe, onCBC Radio's All In ADay.

Staff fromthe CFIA visited her business two weeks ago to tellher she hadtwo weeks to drop those references from her menu.

The visit was prompted by a customer complaint that the "cheddar cheese" she ate was not made from dairy, despite the menu being labelled"100%vegan." Boudens said the customer feltthe word cheesewas misleading.

Call it 'cheese alternative'

Boudens said she makes vegan cheese byfermenting almond orcashew milk and thickening it. Other nut cheeses on the menu are labelled"cashew mozzarella," "cashew parmesan" and "almond feta."

The CFIAsuggested she change themto"mozarella style" or "cheese alternative."

"I immediately said noto that mainly because I don't like the word alternative.I think it makes the items sound less appetizing than what they really are," she said.

"I would hate to turn someone away just because of what we called it."

'Not the only ones'

Boudens said there are many vegan and vegetarian restaurantsin the city thatuse similarlabels, and that some have faced criticism and othershavenot.

And big food chainsoffering vegan options also calltheir plant-based items "burgers" and "sausages."

"We're not the only ones dealing with it,but I am just the lucky one who got caught with it," she said.

Brian Naud, a spokesperson forthe CFIA, wrotein an emailed statement thattheycan'tcomment on specific cases.

But in general, he wrote, the CFIAtakes into account the overall impression food labels create for customers.

"Foods sold in Canada must have a common name, and all labelling must be truthful and not misleading," the statement reads.