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Comment by tengbretson | Hacker News Reader

Its hard for me to understand exactly how the term "plant-based" came to be an acceptably descriptive name for a category of food. Is it so hard to just put the name of the plants in the name of the food? I think most people would be skeptical of going to a bar and ordering something off the menu that was simply called "Animal-based Wings."

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It's a terminology used to entice those who feel like they'd need a replacement for the things they're used to, and yet might have a bad perception of the plants used in these products (like eww that tastes bad) - so it's a term for the general population.

Also these products as mostly a combination of plants, like it wouldn't be right (or maybe even legal) to say that the vEGGie is soy eggs.

My pet theory is that it's actually because vegan and vegetarian are too charged of a term at this point.

"Plant based" is fairly neutral and doesn't outright prescribe a hard line.

In Germany, most vegan products have a "Vegan", "Veganer" or similar prefix/suffix. Brands that don't really care about vegans but really just want the money then bring out "plant-based" products, because there are no rules around that adjective.

On Plant-Based burgers you could still have mayonnaise with eggs in it. Or sauces that aren't vegan.

Also, they try to go for people that are really against "vegan" food because "plant-based" sounds less aggressive. In my opinion (am vegan), it's bs.

If they listed the shit they put in them nobody would eat them. Same thing with hot dog sausages or chicken nuggets, when you've seen the factory videos they're puke inducing

I would think there is a big difference between using anuses and other misc. parts in hotdogs and mung bean protein in a beyond burger in terms of what's revolting.

Eh, it varies. I've ordered meat loaf, hot dogs, and fish and chips in bars. I've bought containers of mixed nuts without looking to see what kind of nuts were inside. I'm not a big juice person but lots of people buy juice blends without checking the ingredients.

It's probably because the concoction contains so many elements that it's difficult to label.

No it's because so many people have an allergic reaction to the idea (and ideology) of Vegan. People who eat plant-based tend to be more (health based) pro-veggie than militantly anti-meat. It's trying to promote a healthy vision with out the quagmire of the extremists.

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