Brussels 08/09/2025
The European Parliament Agriculture Committee voted this Monday to ban the use of terms such as “burger”, “sausage” and “steak” for plant-based foods.
The proposal (amendment 645) by French lawmaker, Celine Imart, revived the topic, after it was voted down by the Parliament’s plenary in 2020. At the end of last year, the European Court of Justice ruled against the French government on this subject, stating that current EU legislation was sufficient to protect consumers from possible misleading labeling. However, members of the Agriculture Committee seem to disagree with the EU’s highest Court.
“There is no data to support the argument that consumers are confused by plant-based burgers, sausages or any other alternative” stated Rafael Pinto from the European Vegetarian Union (EVU), adding “Policymaker’s continue to bring up this non-issue, when it’s simply not a problem for citizens. On the contrary, banning the use of these terms will hurt the farmers producing raw materials such as pea or soy, the companies innovating with new products and hinder consumer transparency with the use of unknown names”.
The proposal was included in a targeted revision of the Common Market Organisation Regulation, which intended to strengthen farmers’ position in the supply chain. Even though a discussion on plant-based denominations was not foreseen on this file, and some policymakers consider it out of scope, the approved amendment gathered a majority on the raise of hand vote. Similarly to 2020, the discussion will now move to a vote in the plenary with all members of Parliament.
For the EVU “This vote shows a disconnect between citizens’ needs and policymakers priorities. Between science and policy. It also goes against the EU’s targets to promote innovation, reduce red tape, and increase food security. We call on the members of Parliament to vote this text down in plenary”.
The vote comes a few days after one of Europe’s highest scientific councils, the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC), launched a report recommending policymakers to increase support for meat alternatives due to climate, health and food security reasons.
Despite this, the European Commission has also published a similar proposal, aiming to ban the use of 29 words for plant-based foods. Although descriptive terms such as “burger” or “sausage” are excluded from the Commission’s list, the use of terms such as “chicken”, “pork”, “beef” or “bacon” would still be banned. It is unclear when the discussion on this proposal will take place and how it will interact with the current discussion in Parliament, but the political crackdown on meat alternatives goes on.
The European Vegetarian Union (EVU) is the umbrella association of 48 civil society organisations in 29 countries. The EVU represents the voice of the growing number of European consumers shifting towards a more plant-based diet. As such, we advocate for a favourable food environment that makes it easier to choose as well as produce more plant-based foods. www.euroveg.eu
