The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland has ruled that names of animal species, such as ‘chicken’ and ‘pork,’ cannot be used to label plant-based alternative products in the country.

The final ruling was announced last Friday (2 May 2025) following a lengthy legal dispute initiated in 2021, involving Swiss alt-meat start-up Planted and the Cantonal Laboratory of Zurich.

The federal court’s judgement states that product names like ‘Planted.Chicken’ are not permitted on the packaging of plant-based products, even if such labelling is accompanied by an indication of the products’ plant origin.

Planted, headquartered in Zurich, was initially prohibited from labelling its pea protein-based product with animal-related terms such as ‘chicken’ following a complaint from the Cantonal Laboratory in 2021.

In 2022, the Zurich Administrative Court ruled that Planted’s use of the term was not misleading to consumers and was therefore permitted. However, the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) appealed against this in 2023.

The Federal Supreme Court has now made its final ruling, upholding the FDHA’s appeal and stating that the term ‘chicken’ refers to poultry and as meat under European law, therefore may not be used for products that do not contain any meat.

In its statement, the court said that such labelling is considered ‘deception,’ with all information on food products legally required to ‘correspond to the facts,’ with imitation products to be labelled and advertised ‘in such a way that consumers can recognise the true nature of the product and distinguish it from items with which it could be confused’.

Planted expressed its disappointment following the ruling, emphasising that the decision disregards a representative study showing that 93% of respondents identified the company’s chicken alternative product as plant-based within seconds.

Despite the ban on the use of ‘chicken’ and other species-related terms, the court has affirmed that generic terms like ‘steak’ and ‘fillet’ may continue to be used for plant-based alternatives, as they are not tied to a specific animal.

Judith Wemmer, co-founder of Planted and president of the Swiss Protein Association, said: “Our products have already saved 3,493,696 chicken lives – something we’re incredibly proud of...As a Swiss citizen, I’m disappointed that a decision of this magnitude seems driven by politics and emotion."

Wemmer described the ruling as "contradictory" in light of the Federal Council's April 2025 nutrition policy, which advocates for more plant-based diets.

She added: “Rather than helping consumers with simple, clear terminology, unnecessary bureaucracy is being created – wasting valuable resources. The shift to plant-based proteins is well underway, and this ruling won’t stop it.”

Top image: © Planted