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Articles shared more than a thousand times since the end of March on Facebook and Twitter claim that the British association The Vegan Society, which promotes the vegan lifestyle, has called for a ban on cookies in the shape of animals. This is not true, The Vegan Society has confirmed to AFP. This is an extrapolation of an article from 2018 written by a single activist who questioned the symbolism of these cookies. But she was not asking for their removal and was not writing on behalf of the association, she confirmed to AFP.
“The Vegan Society, the organization advocating veganism wants to eliminate cookies in the shape of animals” affirms an article published on March 29, 2021 and shared on facebook almost a thousand times since. A similar claim has been echoed in several other articles, for example on Foozine and Radio Contact on March 30, then on 7sur7.be on the 31st. These articles have been included in numerous publications on Facebook and Twitter.
In the comments, Internet users wonder about the relevance of such a request.
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Screenshots taken on 04/15/2021 on Facebook and Twitter–
This information is however false, explained The Vegan Society to AFP. The British association has never called for the removal of these animal-shaped cakes. In 2018, an American sociologist, member of The Vegan Society, wrote an article questioning the symbolism of these cookies which, according to her, would accustom children to the principle of “human domination “. But she was not speaking on behalf of the association and did not ask for a ban on these cakes, she confirmed to AFP.
The information was also denied by our colleagues fromEurope 1.
The Vegan Society is not calling for the removal of these cookies
AFP contacted on April 15, 2021 The Vegan Society, an association founded in 1944 that promotes veganism, a movement that consists in refusing to consume any food of animal origin and any product derived from animal exploitation (such as fur , wool or cosmetics tested on animals, for example).
“It is factually incorrect to say that the Vegan Society wants to ban animal shaped cookies,” the association’s communications department said via email, indicating that The Vegan Society has authorized several food products in the shape of animals (but containing no animal traces) to display son label. Among these products, nuggets vegan in the shape of dinosaurs or even biscuits chick-shaped.
In addition, no mention of such a request appears on the site of The Vegan Society, according to AFP research.
The Vegan Society sent the AFP verse an article published in September 2018 by American sociologist and animal rights specialist, Corey Lee Wrenn, in which she rebounded on the decision of the cookie brand Nabisco to forgo one of its cookie wrappers showing animals locked in cages . This decision taken in August 2018 by the brand, and reported by the press here and here, followed discussions with the animal protection association MAP, who thehad relayed on his site.
At the time, the case had already provoked a debate on social networks.
In his article, published a month after Nabisco’s decision, Corey Lee Wrenn questioned the symbolic significance of these animal-shaped cookies, beyond their mere packaging. She wrote: “Animal shaped cookies are (…) functional in their ability to socialize children with ideologies of human domination. The consumption of animal shaped cookies reminds children of their privileged access to the natural world and to all the subordinates who live there. By being able to “collect” the animals, to pick them up, to handle them, and possibly to eat them, the notions of human supremacy are underlined “.
Several of the recent articles we check also refer to these comments by Corey Lee Wrenn and the Peta and Nabisco case.
However, although Corey Lee Wrenn is a member, this article was not written on behalf of The Vegan Society and “does not reflect position” of the association, said the latter.
The American sociologist herself confirmed to AFP on April 15 that she wrote this article. “in his name”. In addition, when asked about these publications, she indicated that she was not asking for the removal of these cookies: “I only criticized the symbolism, I don’t think I had a plan of action”, she declared by email.
According to AFP research, this false information appeared at the end of March on social networks. March 28, 2021, a Facebook page thus shared an article dated January 2020, which already claimed that The Vegan society would have “targeted a treat that people have enjoyed for decades: animal shaped cookies”, without mentioning a source. Similar articles were also circulating about Corey Lee Wrenn’s comments. already in 2018 in English.
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