🔗 Share this article European Parliament Decide to Ban Meat-Related Names for Plant-Based Products In a major vote on Wednesday, MEPs decided by a margin of 355-247 to reserve food names including "steak" and "sausage" exclusively for meat products. What the Vote Means Should the measure is implemented, popular plant-based items such as plant-based burgers, tofu steak, and cauliflower schnitzel may have to change their names across European Union countries. However, for the restriction to be enforced, it needs to receive support from most of the EU's 27 countries, which remains far from certain. The Arguments Behind the Measure Supporters argue that customers require transparent information and while traditional names must only describe products from livestock. "An escalope and sausages are goods from our livestock: not from synthetic production nor vegetable sources," said France's MEP the proposal's author. Opponents, led by environmental lawmakers, described the decision political maneuvering. "Plant-based burgers, seitan schnitzel and soy sausage don't mislead consumers, just rightwing politicians," said Austria's Green MEP Thomas Waitz. Previous Efforts and Legal Background This marks another effort to control such names. The European parliament rejected a comparable prohibition in 2020. France previously enacted a domestic ban on traditional names for plant-based foods in recent years, but the European court of justice determined it illegal under EU law in this year. Business and Consumer Reaction Leading German supermarkets including Aldi and Lidl oppose the measure, cautioning that changing familiar terms would mislead consumers. Consumer groups cite research indicating that the majority of shoppers comprehend product labels when products are clearly identified as vegetarian. "Almost 70% of consumers recognize the terminology as long as items are explicitly marked vegan or vegetarian," said Irina Popescu, a food policy officer at BEUC. What Next This legislative measure now requires review by EU member states, and it needs to secure majority support to be enacted. Given the divided opinions within various lawmakers and the public, the outcome of this initiative remains uncertain.