EU Parliament Decide to Prohibit Meat-Based Terms for Vegetarian Foods
During a significant decision on Wednesday, European Parliament members decided 355 to 247 to reserve product terms including "burger" and "schnitzel" exclusively for meat products.
What the Vote Means
Should this proposal is implemented, common plant-based items such as veggie burgers, soy steak, and vegetable schnitzel may need to be renamed across European Union markets.
However, for the ban to be enforced, it needs to receive approval from a majority of the 27 EU countries, something that remains far from certain.
The Arguments Behind the Proposal
Proponents argue that customers need clear information and that traditional names should exclusively describe items from animals.
"An escalope or a sausage are goods from our livestock: not from synthetic production or plant products," stated France's lawmaker CĂ©line Imart.
Critics, including environmental lawmakers, called the move political tactics.
"Veggie burgers, seitan schnitzel and tofu sausage don't mislead shoppers, just certain lawmakers," declared Austria's Green MEP Thomas Waitz.
Previous Attempts and Legal Context
This isn't the first attempt to regulate such terminology. EU lawmakers voted down a comparable prohibition in four years ago.
France earlier introduced a domestic ban on meat terms for vegetarian products in 2020, but the European court of justice ruled it invalid under EU law in this year.
Business and Public Reaction
Major German retailers including Aldi and Lidl oppose the measure, cautioning that changing established names would confuse shoppers.
Advocacy organizations point to surveys indicating that most shoppers comprehend product labels when items are clearly identified as vegetarian.
"Nearly seventy percent of consumers understand these names provided products are clearly labelled vegan or vegetarian," noted Irina Popescu, a food policy expert at BEUC.
What Comes Next
The proposal now faces consideration by European governments, where it must obtain broad support to become law.
Considering the mixed opinions within various politicians and the public, the outcome of the proposal is still unclear.
