The E.U. Parliament has today rejected a ban on the use of terms like “burger” or “steak” for plant-based meat replacements, but is set to ban references to dairy for alternative products.
MEPs voted down the proposed veggie burger amendment meaning terms like “veggie sausage” or “vegan burger” could be sold across the European Union.
However, descriptions such as ‘yoghurt-style’ or ‘cream imitation’ will not be allowed.
Louise Davies, Head of Policy at The Vegan Society, said:
Plant-based products are already banned from using terms like ‘milk’ or ‘butter’ – despite there being not a single piece of evidence to suggest consumers are confused by these denominations.
Adding in a further restriction to stop terms that liken plant-based foods to dairy, such as ‘alternative’ or ‘style’, is going to stop manufacturers from accurately describing their products and mean that consumers actively seeking to reduce their environmental impact and shop more ethically will be poorly informed.
We are perplexed by this decision by MEPs who should be doing all they can to support the consumption of plant-based products to address the growing climate crisis, which is largely caused by animal agriculture.