EU Parliament Decide to Prohibit Meat-Related Terms for Plant-Based Foods

During a significant vote this week, MEPs voted by a margin of 355-247 to restrict food names including "burger" and "sausage" solely for animal-derived foods.

What the Vote Signifies

Should this proposal becomes law, common vegetarian products such as veggie burgers, tofu steak, and vegetable schnitzel could have to be renamed across European Union countries.

However, for the restriction to take effect, it needs to gain approval from most of the EU's 27 countries, something that remains far from certain.

The Arguments Surrounding the Measure

Proponents argue that customers need clear labeling and that meat terms must only refer to items derived from animals.

"An escalope and sausages are products from our livestock: not synthetic production or plant products," said French lawmaker the proposal's author.

Critics, led by Green MEPs, called the decision pointless regulation.

"Veggie burgers, wheat schnitzel and tofu sausage don't mislead shoppers, just certain lawmakers," declared Austria's Green MEP Thomas Waitz.

Previous Efforts and Legal Context

This isn't the first effort to control such terminology. EU lawmakers rejected a comparable ban in four years ago.

The French government previously enacted a domestic ban on meat terms for vegetarian products in recent years, but the European court of justice determined it invalid under EU law in this year.

Business and Consumer Response

Leading Germany's supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl object to the measure, cautioning that changing established terms would confuse consumers.

Consumer groups point to surveys indicating that the majority of consumers comprehend product labels when products are properly marked as vegetarian.

"Almost seventy percent of consumers recognize the terminology provided products are clearly labelled plant-based," noted Irina Popescu, a food policy expert at BEUC.

What Comes Next

The legislative measure now faces consideration by EU member states, and it needs to obtain broad support to become law.

Considering the divided opinions within both politicians and the general population, the future of this initiative is still unclear.