Australia's beef industry has the national science agency CSIRO firmly in their sights over support of fake meats.
The Red Meat Industry Council wants to know how deeply that support exists within the organisation.
The council has lodged a series of Freedom of Information requests trying to learn if there are direct links between CSIRO senior staff and new plant-based commercial companies.
Several research scientists have left the organisation to fund their own start-up companies, like Nourish Ingredients, looking to develop alternative protein products. Some of these have found financial support from the CSIRO's innovation fund.
The beef industry has been critical about the taxpayer support directed to plant-based alternative companies like v2food and Eden Brew.
For its part, the CSIRO says financial support for these companies comes from the CSIRO Innovation Fund (now called Main Sequence) which is "structurally separate and legally distinct from CSIRO".
That fund has invested more than $19 million in plant-based meat company v2food.
The lion's share of the $4 million provided to animal-free dairy company Eden Brew is believed to have come from Main Sequence as well.
The Red Meat Advisory Council has also submitted Freedom of Information requests seeking copies of correspondence including emails between a senior CSIRO staff member and the plant-based companies, v2food and Food Frontier.
Food Frontier is a not-for-profit "independent think tank" based in Melbourne which has been criticised by farmers as being anti-meat activists, a claim Food Frontier has denied.
Red Meat Advisory Council chair John McKillop said the freedom of information requests were lodged after it was revealed CSIRO was recommending children substitute beef for vegan products.
Meat producers were heavily critical of the advice given to families and children by the CSIRO in August to choose plant-based food over red meat in a national online campaign.
Families were advised to switch to plant-based meats.
"In addition to the dietary advice, earlier this year the taxpayer funded agency was also found to have invested millions of dollars into commercial manufactured plant based protein companies," Mr McKillop said.
"Taxpayers need to have complete confidence that dietary advice published by CSIRO and targeted at children is beyond reproach.
"As well as providing dietary recommendations to substitute meat for vegan products, CSIRO is investing significant amounts of public funds into research on 'the application of alternative proteins to mimic meat structure and texture'.
"While Australia's red meat and livestock industry battles against misleading vegan product labelling, it is deeply concerning that a CSIRO employee has been publicly quoted as naming a vegan special interest group founded by a former Animals Australia activist as an 'ally' to the taxpayer funded agency," he said.
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