Is called “Meat Sounding“And he has always received controversy and criticism, especially from certain fringes of producers, the way of labeling with meat denominations clearly vegetable products. And now it is called definitively stop to the”Meat Sounding“, Ie the use of terms associated with meat for vegetable -based products, such as” vegetarian burger “or” tofu sausage “.
The MEP, with 355 votes in favor and 247 votes against, has approved in plenary the changes aimed at the regulation on the common organization of the agricultural markets (OCM), including an amendment proposed by the rapporteur of the PPE Céline Imart, which requires the prohibition to use terms attributable to the meat for vegetable products and limits the descriptions of food such as steak, scalpy and sausage to the products containing meat.
When the process is completed (before entering into force it must be negotiated with the governments of the 27 countries gathered in the Council), perhaps as early as 2028, the Plant Based manufacturers will no longer be able to label as “burger veg”, or “soybean hamburger”, or “lentil sausage” their vegetable foods.
The shadow of the meat lobbies
The vote comes a few days after one of the highest scientific advice in Europe, the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC), has issued a report that recommends political managers to increase support for alternatives to meat for climatic, health and food safety reasons. One more reason to believe that, as several associations have always affirmed, this decision seems to respond more to the interests of the lobby of meat than to real needs of the market or European citizens.
In June, some zootechnical associations had in fact sent a letter to the European commissioners Hansen (food and agriculture) and Várhelyi (animal health and well -being), complaining of an alleged unfair competition deriving from the use of “meat” terms on plant labels.
And the data, meanwhile, say more: according to a study conducted by the European Consumers Organization in 2020, 80% of EU citizens consider the use of “Meat-Sounding” terms for plant products legitimate and only 9% claim to confuse vegetable products with animal ones (Smart Protein, 2023). The European vegetable alternative market has reached $ 3.3 billion in 2024 for the Plant-Based “meats”, and almost 10 billion if the substitutes for dairy products are included.
Sources: EASAC / Good Food Institute
