When is a sausage no longer a sausage? European Parliament answers after long grilling session 

There has agelong been a statement wrong the European Union implicit however to sanction plant-based foods. These products are becoming increasingly popular, yet uncertainty remains astir however they should beryllium labelled and promoted wrong the azygous market. 

Can we telephone a soya-based patty a veggie burger? Should we usage the word "sausage" if it doesn’t incorporate meat, oregon bash specified presumption confuse consumers? 

On Wednesday, the European Parliament decided that names specified arsenic hamburger, sausage, escalope oregon steak tin lone beryllium utilized for nutrient products and not for plant-based foods. 

“I judge that steak, cutlet oregon sausage are products from our livestock farms. Full stop. No laboratory substitutes, nary plant-based products”, French MEP Céline Imart (EPP), liable for the record successful the Parliament, said during the plenary treatment connected Tuesday. 

She added that this treatment is besides astir transparency and clarity for consumers, and designation of the enactment of livestock farmers. 

This statement has been simmering successful the European Union for immoderate time. Current authorities allows plant-based products to usage meat-related terms, provided the packaging intelligibly indicates that the merchandise is made lone from plants. 

However, successful July, successful a connection to update the Common Market Organisation (CMO), the European Commission stated that “meat” means exclusively the edible parts of an animal, and “meat products” refers to products derived solely from meat. 

The connection introduced a database of 29 banned presumption erstwhile referring to vegetarian oregon vegan products, including: beef, chicken, bacon, ribs, wings and breast. 

The European Parliament had besides attempted to present a akin betterment back successful 2020 during discussions connected EU cultivation subsidies, but the connection did not walk pursuing a roast. 

'Don’t deliberation consumers are stupid'

One of the main arguments for banning these presumption is that they whitethorn confuse consumers, making it unclear what merchandise they are really choosing and purchasing.

A 2020 survey by the European Consumer Organisation BEUC recovered that astir consumers, astir 70%, are not acrophobic astir the naming of veggie "burgers" oregon "sausages" if the products are intelligibly identifiable arsenic vegetarian oregon vegan.  

“It is disappointing that the EU Parliament agreed to prohibition commonly utilized meat-related names similar ‘burgers’ oregon ‘sausages’ for plant-based alternatives,” Irina Popescu, nutrient argumentation serviceman astatine BEUC told Euronews.

Policymakers should absorption connected making packaging wide and understandable with trustworthy labels, Popescu added.

During Wednesday's heated debate, immoderate of the comments aimed astatine the MEPs contiguous were rather spicy.

“Some politicians present successful the location deliberation that we request to mistrust consumers’ quality — that they’re not capable to spot and work what they’re really buying. If something’s called a vegan burger, past everybody knows it’s not going to incorporate meat,” said Austrian MEP Thomas Weitz (The Greens). 

If it's not milk, past it's a 'drink'

Four 100 organisations person signed an open letter calling for the withdrawal of the prohibition connected 29 meat-related presumption for plant-based products.

The missive urges the EU to uphold ineligible precedents that safeguard transparent, consumer-friendly labelling, and to enactment innovation and sustainability by promoting a level playing field, with intelligibly labelled plant-based options that empower user prime and promote climate-friendly, steadfast diets. 

The legal precedent referred to successful the missive is simply a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) past year, which held that EU subordinate states cannot forestall nutrient manufacturers from utilizing labels traditionally associated with nutrient connected vegetarian foods, arsenic agelong arsenic the labels intelligibly picture what the products contain. 

However, a comparable ineligible contented arose successful 2017 erstwhile the EU’s apical tribunal addressed the usage of dairy-related presumption for plant-based products specified arsenic soy and oat drinks.

In that case, the ECJ ruled that lone products containing existent dairy could usage presumption specified arsenic milk, butter, oregon yoghurt, resulting successful plant-based alternatives being labelled arsenic “drinks” connected European shelves. 

At the time, the ECJ stated that lone products containing existent dairy could usage presumption specified arsenic milk, butter, oregon yoghurt, which resulted successful plant-based alternatives being labelled arsenic "drinks" connected European shelves.   

The Parliament’s substance indispensable inactive beryllium negotiated by each subordinate states successful the European Council, wherever it is expected to look important division, arsenic the contented is besides being debated domestically successful several countries.