EU Parliament voted to ban the names of meat for plant foods

The European Parliament (EP) voted to ban the use of words like “burger” or “steak” to describe their plant -based variants.

Voting by a majority of 355-247 is seen as a victory for farmers who say the labels threaten their industry and livelihood.

However, the complete ban is not forthcoming – or even safe – since the proposal needs the support of the European Commission – the EU executive hand – as well as the governments of the 27 Member States to become a law.

In recent years, the plant -based food industry has increased exponentially, with more people choosing a way of life without meat.

“Let’s call the spade a peak,” Celine Imart, the French member of the Parliament, who runs the initiative, was quoted by the AFP news agency, as plant -based products said.

Marketing products based on plants using meat labels “is misleading for the consumer,” said the EPP Conservative Group member in the EP.

According to the proposal, other labels such as “egg yolk”, “egg whites” and “escalop” will be limited to products that contain meat.

The EU has already identified dairy objects as products coming from “normal mammary secretion”. This includes products such as milk, yogurt and cheese.

Oat milk, for example, is called oatmeal on European shelves.

Green and liberal legislators criticize the EP text now as “useless”.

“While the world is burning, EPP has nothing better to do this week than to include all of us in a debate about sausages and schnitzel,” says Anna Kavacini of the German Green Party, quoted by Denim Welle.

Environmentalists said the ban would be a failure for sustainability.

The proposal also provoked criticism of key voices of the food industry in Germany – the largest plant for plant products in the EU, according to a Report from the Institute of Good Food in Europe.

Main German Supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl, a joint fast food burger and a Rügenwalder Mühle sausage manufacturer have repelled the proposal in a jointly open letterS

They said the ban on “familiar conditions” would make it difficult for “more difficult for users to make informed decisions”.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz – whose party is a key member of EPP – fully supports the ban. “The sausage is a sausage. The sausage is not vegan,” he said recently.

The French meat industry also strongly supported the idea.

Back in 2020, a similar proposal was on the table, but it was not accepted.