European Lawmakers Decide to Prohibit Meat-Based Terms for Vegetarian Foods
In a major decision this week, MEPs voted by a margin of 355-247 to reserve product terms including "burger" and "sausage" exclusively for meat products.
The Vote Signifies
If this proposal becomes law, popular vegetarian products like veggie burgers, tofu steak, and vegetable schnitzel may need to change their names throughout EU countries.
However, for the restriction to be enforced, it must receive approval from most of the EU's 27 member states, something that is far from certain.
Key Arguments Surrounding the Measure
Proponents argue that consumers need transparent information and while traditional names should exclusively describe products derived from animals.
"A steak and sausages are goods from animal farming: not from laboratory art or vegetable sources," stated France's lawmaker Céline Imart.
Critics, led by Green MEPs, described the move populist maneuvering.
"Plant-based burgers, wheat schnitzel and tofu sausage do not confuse consumers, only certain lawmakers," declared Austrian Green MEP Thomas Waitz.
Past Attempts and Legal Background
This isn't the first effort to regulate such names. The European parliament voted down a comparable ban in four years ago.
France previously enacted a domestic restriction on traditional names for plant-based foods in 2020, but the European court of justice ruled it invalid under EU law in 2024.
Business and Consumer Reaction
Leading Germany's supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl object to the proposal, cautioning that changing familiar terms would confuse shoppers.
Advocacy organizations point to research indicating that the majority of shoppers comprehend these names as long as products are properly marked as vegan.
"Almost seventy percent of shoppers understand these names as long as products are explicitly marked plant-based," noted Irina Popescu, a food policy officer at BEUC.
What Next
This proposal next faces consideration by European governments, and it must secure broad support to become law.
Considering the divided views among both lawmakers and the general population, the future of this initiative is still unclear.
