THE European Parliament has voted in favour of new legislation to prohibit the use of meat-related terms on the labels of plant-based and cultivated meat products.
The move – part of a proposed EU law designed to protect farmers – was adopted with 355 votes in favour to 247 against. There were 30 abstentions.
The legislation also introduces a new definition of meat as “edible parts of animals.”
The proposal reserves ‘meat-like’ terms such as steak, sausage, mince, and burger for animal-based products, barring their use for plant-based and cell-cultivated meat. The meat-only list also includes descriptions like egg yolk and egg white.
Earlier, the EU defined dairy items milk, butter, cream, yoghurt and cheese as “products secreted by mammary glands”, meaning that what might otherwise be called oat milk or almond milk is instead generally referred to as oat/almond drink. Many ‘almond milk’ products contain only 3-4 pieces of almonds.
A similar proposal over meat terms was rejected by a large majority in 2020, but the makeup of the EU parliament has shifted to the right since then. The measure was proposed by the parliament’s agriculture committee, which said consumers are being confused by the current situation. This put farmers at a disadvantage, committee chairwoman Céline Imart said.
Dutch EU lawmaker Dirk Gotink said on social media that the move was a waste of time.“Europe is facing so many crises, and the European Parliament wants rules for veggie burgers,” he wrote. “People know if they are buying meat or vegetarian, and we don’t need any more European rules to help them.”
Another EU parliamentary representative, Anna Strolenberg, said the pro-meat lobby was reacting defensively.“It’s clearly afraid that innovative food companies will overtake it,” she said. “Europe should be supporting the sustainable sector instead of burdening it with extra costs for rebranding and marketing.”
However, another lawmaker for the pro-farming BBB party said the vote was a breakthrough.
“Consumers will be better informed about what they are buying,” she said.
“And it is only right that the skills of our farmers and butchers are valued.”
The ban is not yet certain, and the draft legislation still has to be discussed with the European Commission and EU member states. If they do not support it, the ban will not go ahead.
– Beef Central
