The European Parliament Agriculture Committee voted to ban the use of names such as ‘burger,’ ‘sausage’ and ‘steak’ for plant-based foods yesterday (8 September) in an ongoing debate surrounding the labelling of meat alternatives.

The proposal, led by French MEP Céline Imart, reintroduced the topic after it was voted down by the Parliament’s plenary in 2020. It seeks to protect the animal agriculture industry by reserving such meat-related words ‘exclusively for the edible parts of animals,’ calling for the ban of their use on both plant-based and cell-cultured products. After gathering a majority vote, it will now move to a vote in the plenary with all members of parliament.

At the beginning of the year, two decrees prohibiting the use of meat-related words on plant-based products in France were annulled following a 2024 ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The CJEU ruled that EU law already provides sufficient regulations to protect consumers from being misled by labelling.

Despite this, the European Commission also put forward a similar proposal in July seeking to ban 29 words that should be ‘reserved for products derived exclusively from meat at all stages of marketing.' These included species-related words like ‘chicken,’ ‘beef,’ ‘pork’ and ‘lamb,’ as well as descriptive words such as ‘chop,’ ‘wing,’ ‘drumstick’ and ‘ribs’.

Rafael Pinto, senior policy manager at the European Vegetarian Union (EVU), said: “There is no data to support the argument that consumers are confused by plant-based burgers, sausages or any other alternative. Policymakers continue to bring up this non-issue, when it’s simply not a problem for citizens.”

He argued that instead, a ban of the terms will be damaging to farmers producing raw plant-based materials like pea or soy – and could actually hinder consumer transparency due to the use of “unknown names,” alongside the clear impact on plant-based meat alternative producers.

The vote follows a recently launched European Academies Science Advisory Council report, calling for policymakers to increase support for meat alternatives, as well as a commitment from the EU to develop a protein diversification strategy and increase domestic plant-based protein production.

Pinto added: “This vote shows a disconnect between citizens’ needs and policymakers’ priorities...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.”

In a statement on LinkedIn, Ivo Rzegotta, public affairs manager at the Good Food Institute Europe, said this latest motion from the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture goes "significantly beyond the equally problematic proposal by the EU Commission from July".

He wrote: "Both initiatives – from the Commission and the Parliament's Committee on Agriculture – are problematic because familiar terms for meat alternatives are practical navigation aids that enable informed purchasing decisions. They help people assess what they can expect in terms of taste and texture and how the products are prepared."

"Arbitrary interventions in proven labelling practices, as currently being discussed at the European level, would make it more difficult for consumers to navigate the market and would also harm domestic companies."