Can a food that is does not contain meat? Is a tofu sausage really a “sausage”? When a manufacturer keeps those old terms in its new products, is it misleading consumers or is it making it easier for itself? The debate comes from afar (from very far away), but seems to be clear for the current European Chamber, exit from the polls in 2024: Plant-based food is one thing and the terms associated with meat are another, so it’s best to separate them.
What is not so clear is that it can settle the discussion.
Words (and something else). Europe’s food industry has been involved in a debate that has little to do with the raising of livestock, the regulation of agriculture, the competition of other markets or the health of consumers. His main obsession is words. Literally. If an oat drink can be called “milk”, tofu “sausages” must be presented as such or a vegan “burger” is not more of a “vegetable disc”.
It may seem like a bureaucratic issue, but there is something more at stake than language: the right to label new products with old labels that are also clearly recognizable by consumers. And that’s gold when it comes to competing in supermarkets. Hence the debate on denominations (far from ceasing) has just written a new and important chapter in Strasbourg.
355 vs 247. What the European Parliament has done is to support with 355 votes in favor (against 247 against and 30 abstentions) an initiative that proposes prohibiting terms such as “hamburger”, “schnitzel”, “steak” or “sausage” from being used on foods that do not contain any meat. In other words, those words (well recognized by customers after decades of use) remain out of the reach of new companies dedicated to marketing food. plant based.
“A steak, a schnitzel or a sausage are products of our livestock, not laboratory art or plant products. We need transparency and clarity for the consumer, as well as recognition of the work of our farmers,” claim the MEP Celine Imartauthor of the amendment to community legislation. Imart represents France, the country that clearer is insisting on change, and is also part of the Group of the European People’s Party (EPP).
If the proposal has achieved the endorsement of Strasbourg, it is precisely because of the support it has received from the right after the pressure exerted by the livestock and agricultural sectors. In front he met the rejection of the left and the Greens.
And now what? That the initiative has received the endorsement of the European Parliament does not mean that the packages advertising hamburgers based on tofu and seitan will disappear, nuggets vegetables or tofu sausages. For this, it is necessary for the proposal to obtain the endorsement of the European Commission and the governments of the 27 countries of the community club. It will now be up to the Commission and the Council to negotiate the measure and (if applicable) approve the initiative and translate it into law.
It won’t be easy. And not only because of the rejection of other political formations. The European People’s Party itself does not have a firm position on the matter, as its leader in the European Parliament, the German, has made clear. Manfred Weberwho before the vote acknowledged that he does not believe it is a priority issue. “Consumers are not stupid when they go to the supermarket to buy,” he stressed. The fact that new plant-based foods have to do without terms like “burger” or “steak” has also raised the opposition from large companies in the sector, such as Aldi and Lidl.
In September a group of companies including both German chains, Burger King, Green Force and the sausage producer Rügenwalder Múhle (among others) launched an open letter in which they warn that the legislative change “goes against the objective of achieving a resilient and diversified food supply”, “weakens” the rights of customers and “harms companies”.
“The proposal results in making it more difficult for consumers to make informed decisions. Familiar terms are practical aids that allow them to make conscious purchasing decisions,” concludes the letter.
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(Much) more than a vote. That does not mean that the European Parliament’s vote is a dead letter. At the very least, it reveals that the debate is still very much alive in the European institutions, where it has already accumulated a long legislative history with frustrated attempts, extensive discussions and measures that have come to fruition.
Among the last ones is the decision adopted by the Court of Justice of the EU in 2017 on the use of dairy terms for plant-based products, such as soy or oat drinks. The agency concluded that only products of animal origin could use terms such as “milk,” “butter” or “yogurt.”
Better “vegetable discs”? Since then the debate around the use of terms associated with meat has continued to rage over the EU. Five years ago the European Parliament already discussed a similar initiative within the framework of the CAP reform, which led the sector to fear that vegetable sausages or hamburgers would have to be renamed “vegetable tubes or discs“. The change of denominations it didn’t go ahead in the House, but its defenders have never thrown in the towel.
In 2024 European justice had to speak out against France’s decision to ban words like “steak” on plant foods, and this spring the issue arose during a review of the regulation. Common Organization of Markets.
What will happen from now on? For now, Imart and his supporters have achieved a significant victory in Strasbourg, largely driven by the endorsement of a European Parliament. more heeled to the right than five years ago.
Curiously, the measure seems to generate more concern in institutional offices and companies than on the street, where the use of the terms does not keep people up at night. This is revealed by a survey carried out five years ago by the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) and which reflects that what really matters to the majority of users is clarity in labeling. “Almost 70% understand these names as long as the products are clearly labeled as vegan or vegetarian,” claims the organization.
Images | T. Tseng (Flickr), Louis Hansel (Unsplash)
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