EU Parliament Decide to Ban Meat-Based Names for Vegetarian Foods
In a significant decision on Wednesday, MEPs decided 355 to 247 to reserve food names including "steak" and "schnitzel" exclusively for meat products.
The Vote Signifies
Should this proposal becomes law, popular vegetarian items like plant-based burgers, tofu steak, and cauliflower schnitzel may need to be renamed across EU markets.
Nevertheless, for the ban to take effect, it needs to gain support from most of the EU's 27 member states, something that remains far from certain.
The Arguments Behind the Measure
Proponents contend that consumers require transparent labeling and while meat terms must only describe items from livestock.
"An escalope and sausages represent goods from animal farming: not from synthetic production nor plant products," stated France's MEP Céline Imart.
Critics, including environmental lawmakers, described the decision populist tactics.
"Plant-based burgers, seitan schnitzel and soy sausage don't mislead consumers, just rightwing politicians," said Austria's Green MEP Thomas Waitz.
Previous Attempts and Legal Context
This isn't the first attempt to regulate such names. EU lawmakers rejected a comparable ban in four years ago.
France earlier introduced a domestic restriction on traditional names for plant-based foods in 2020, but the European court of justice ruled it illegal under EU law in this year.
Industry and Public Response
Leading Germany's supermarkets including Aldi and Lidl oppose the measure, cautioning that altering familiar names would confuse shoppers.
Consumer groups cite research indicating that most consumers understand these names when items are properly identified as vegetarian.
"Almost 70% of consumers understand these names as long as products are explicitly marked vegan or vegetarian," said Irina Popescu, a consumer officer at BEUC.
What Comes Next
The proposal next faces review by EU member states, and it must secure majority approval to be enacted.
Considering the divided opinions among various lawmakers and the public, the future of the proposal is still uncertain.
