A new ruling of the Swiss Federal Court requires a Plant-Based company to rename its products, rekindling the debate on Meat Sounding in Europe
Also In Switzerland, plant -based products They can no longer be marketed with names that directly recall animal species. This was established by the Swiss Federal Court, which accepted the appeal of the Federal Department of the Interior against the Zurighese company Planted Foodsmanufacturer of plant protein -based meat substitutes.
The judicial measure canceled a previous decision of the Administrative Court of Zurich, who had considered the wording as “Planted.chicken“,”Like Chicken“Or“Like Pork“Lecite as they are considered imaginative and not deceptive. However, the majority of the judges of the second public law court has overturned that position: according to the new sentence, in fact, these terms are misleading for the consumer and cannot be used for products that do not contain ingredients of animal origin.
At the basis of the decision there is the desire to avoid the confusion of consumers, a motivation that often returns to the so -called debates Meat Soundingor the use of typical words of the carnivorous world to promote vegetable products. The Swiss judges stressed that the reference to animal names cannot be admitted, even if in clearly vegetable contexts, because this can suggest direct correspondence with the original animal.
According to the judges, these labels are not designed only for vegetarians or vegans, but also for curious omnivores. Precisely for this reason, combining the word “chicken” or “pork” to a meat -free product could induce, creating deceptive expectations on the nature or flavor of the product.
However, names that refer to culinary preparation or form are still allowed, such as “lentil sausage”, “sliced of cereals” or “soy steak”, as long as the vegetable origin of the food is clear.
The precedents and the Italian situation
The question is not isolated at all and the Swiss case could create a further precedent even at European level. In France, for example, a 2022 decree had prohibited the use of terms such as “steak” or “sausage” for Plant-Based products, but the measure was temporarily suspended by the European Union Court of Justice, which asked for further clarifications on the risk of confusion for the consumer.
In Italy, the battle against meat sounding has become a political theme. A law wanted by the League and brothers of Italy explicitly prohibits the use of names referable to meat for vegetable products, and has attracted criticism from the Italian Food Union and many associations in the sector, which speak of obstacles to sustainable food transition and freedom of commercial communication.
On the other hand, the line of Denmark is different, which has chosen not to limit the terminology of the Plant-Based products and has launched a national transition plan towards plant nutrition, considering it strategic to reduce the environmental impact of the food system.
A question of language, identity and future of food
The central node of this dispute is language, which is never neutral: to define a product as “vegetable steak” or “Plant-Based chicken” not only serves to describe it, but also to position it on the market, to recall a culinary tradition, to establish a bridge with consumers in transition to less impacting diets.
Limiting the use of these names could make the communication and dissemination of alternative products more difficult, slowing down a food change deemed crucial by many experts to face the climatic crisis.
At the same time, clarity and transparency towards the consumer are values to be protected. The challenge, for companies and institutions, will therefore be to find a balance between these two objectives, preventing the debate from being reduced to an ideological and not very productive clash.
