Farmers back EU Commission proposal that would ban vegetarian products using terms like ‘burger'
IRISH FARMERS ARE backing an EU Commission proposal that would ban plant-based products from using terms such as 'burger' and 'sausage'.
Last year, the EU Court of Justice ruled that plant-based foods can continue to be sold and promoted using terms traditionally associated with meat, as long as it does not mislead consumers.
A 2021 French law had banned the use of meat-related terms such as 'veggie burgers' or 'vegan sausages' from being used to market foods made from plant-based proteins.
But advocacy groups, including the European Vegetarian Union, challenged this and the
EU Court of Justice ruled that member states cannot prevent manufacturers of plant-based protein foods from using common descriptive names to label products.
However, a French MEP has rekindled the argument.
The EU Commission is currently drafting
proposals for the reform of the common market organisation regulation, which allows for changes to rules governing agricultural products.
French MEP Céline Imart last month added in an amendment to the Commission proposals
that would mean only meat products could use terms like 'steak', 'burger', and 'sausage'.
Her amendment would also ban 'cell-cultured products' from using these terms.
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President of Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA), Denis Drennan, has said that the use of terms like 'sausage' and 'burger' for vegetarian or vegan foods is 'deliberate and cynical'.
'It must constitute a breach of any trade descriptions act as commonly understood,' he added.
Drennan also described the use of such terms for plant-based food as the 'hijacking of traditional meat terms'.
He added that is 'constitutes an admission by the corporations involved that they were unable to convince consumers other than by such 'camouflage''.
He said farmers are 'irritated' to see non-meat products 'want to replace our naturally produced meat' using terms that 'they know are generally understood to refer to traditional dairy and products'.
'They want to use our terminology and the acceptance borne of centuries that those terms have amongst the general public to effectively 'smuggle' their own products past a sceptical public,' he added.
He also claimed that such terms 'have a degree of acceptance and understanding that was hard earned by farmers'.
'Rather than come up with their own terms and descriptions, they simply appropriate the names of the very foods they're trying to replace and supplant,' said Drennan.
'The fact that they're being allowed to 'camouflage' and take advantage of people's understanding is wrong and will have to be addressed.'
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