The next time you order a veggie burger in Europe, it might have a name like “plant puck” or “pea protein sando.”
Driving the news: The European Parliament voted in favour of limiting the use of words like “burger,” “steak,” and “egg white” to describe only animal byproducts, not plant-based or lab-grown substitutes. The measure, which has been a long-standing request of European farmers, still needs approval from all EU members.
- This would bring the terminology in line with existing naming rules that ban the use of dairy phrases for non-dairy products (like how oat milk is called oat drink in the EU).
Big picture: Proponents of the measure argue that it will protect the cultural integrity of meat products. Critics argue that it will only cause confusion and is an obvious ploy to suck up to farmers, a powerful bloc that has launched disruptive protests across the EU in recent years.
In Canada: Non-meat products simulating the texture or look of meat must explicitly say on the labels that they aren’t meat. However, terms like “burger” and “sausage” are allowed.
- Canada is no stranger to controversy over meaty terminology, like when the Québec Cattle Producers Federation lodged a complaint against Beyond Meat for marketing patties as “plant-based meat.” Beyond no longer uses this phrase on packaging in Canada.
Why it matters: The rise of foods that resemble-but-are-not-meat is forcing countries to strike a balance between protecting consumers with proper labels and unfairly hampering alternative products.—QH