🔗 Share this article European Lawmakers Decide to Ban Meat-Based Names for Plant-Based Products In a significant decision on Wednesday, MEPs voted 355 to 247 to restrict product terms such as "burger" and "sausage" solely for animal-derived foods. What the Vote Means Should the measure is implemented, common vegetarian items like veggie burgers, soy steak, and cauliflower schnitzel could have to be renamed across EU countries. However, for the restriction to take effect, it must gain support from a majority of the 27 EU countries, which is far from certain. The Debate Behind the Measure Supporters argue that consumers need clear labeling and while traditional names must exclusively refer to items from animals. "An escalope and sausages represent goods from our livestock: not laboratory art or vegetable sources," stated French lawmaker Céline Imart. Critics, led by environmental lawmakers, described the decision populist maneuvering. "Plant-based burgers, seitan schnitzel and tofu sausage don't mislead consumers, only certain lawmakers," said Austrian lawmaker Thomas Waitz. Past Attempts and Judicial Context This isn't the first effort to regulate such terminology. EU lawmakers voted down a comparable prohibition in four years ago. The French government earlier introduced a national restriction on traditional names for vegetarian products in 2020, but the European court of justice determined it invalid under European legislation in this year. Industry and Consumer Reaction Major Germany's supermarkets including Aldi and Lidl oppose the proposal, cautioning that altering familiar names would mislead shoppers. Advocacy organizations cite surveys indicating that most consumers comprehend product labels as long as products are properly marked as vegan. "Almost 70% of consumers recognize the terminology as long as items are explicitly labelled vegan or vegetarian," said Irina Popescu, a food policy expert at BEUC. What Comes Next The legislative measure now faces consideration by EU member states, and it must secure broad support to be enacted. Considering the mixed opinions among various lawmakers and the public, the outcome of the proposal remains unclear.