Veggie burgers, tofu steak and cauliflower schnitzel will be off the menu if the European parliament gets its way after a vote on food names.
MEPs voted on Wednesday by 355 in favour to 247 against to reserve names such as “steak”, “burger” and “sausage” exclusively for products derived from meat, a longstanding demand of farm unions.
In order to come into effect, the idea would have to be approved by a majority of the EU’s 27 member states, which is far from certain.
The vote is a victory for the French centre-right MEP Céline Imart, who drafted the amendment to legislation intended to strengthen the position of farmers in the food supply chain.
Given that we’ve only got 30k farmers – actual real farmers that is, not including the hobbyists – that’s an organisation we do not wish to belong to then.
Good, glad we’ve got that settled then.
The problem is that people just find new names. You’re not going to stop people eating tofu steak if that’s what they want to eat. Someone in a restaurant will just call it tofu cutlet and everyone will swiftly adapt to the new normal.
Like they banned the term Methode Champenoise on labels so that people couldn’t flog sparkling wine that was saying “it’s like Champagne”. But eventually, everyone learned what Traditional Method was, or writers and bloggers would say “it’s basically Champagne” and the message got out there. What are you going to do? Go after every person on Reddit, or chatting at work saying “go and buy some Graham Beck, far cheaper than Champagne”.
The point is *THAT* the “Alt-Meat” industry and associated lobby will have to find new names for their products that do not imply they contain or are prepared with actual meat.
Something they mysteriously got away with for way too long…
You buy a chicken sandwich , you expect there to be chicken in it, not chickpeas, lentils, and fungus “chicken”.
Even Mystery Meat still has to contain at least actual meat,
Giving something a name which it clearly isn’t for marketing purposes has a name: Fraud.
Depends on the words though. I’m not confused by a cauliflower schnitzel or a veggie burger. And is this really the level of problem necessary to stop Germany and France going to war? Even if you accidentally order it, or a restaurant doesn’t describe it properly, what’s the harm in the grand scheme of things? Do we really need laws for “wankers, they called it what I wasn’t expecting, I won’t go back there”.
Just call it “bubbly”…
Will the Ulstermen still be able to refer to mincemeat pies at Xmas?
Yes but the packet will have a sticker saying ‘not for EU’.
And mince pies are in the shops already!
Proper mince pies have meat in them.
I’ve never understood why Vegetarians and Vegans would want to eat anything that looks (or sounds like) meat…?
Some won’t – at the Village Lunch that I volunteer for, one month’s vegetarian alternative was a mock-meat casserole that was sufficiently realistic in appearance that a couple of the vegetarians declined to eat it.
But surprising numbers do. They love the food – usually, the fatty saltiness, I think – but dislike its source. I have a pal always eating veggie bacon, along with cheese & marmite baps. No greens. His guts are in such a state he can’t sleep lying down.
it’s a fascinating thing. I quite like some veggie food, but none of it is supposed to resemble meat.
But it’s always been that way – German industry subsidising French farmers was the founding concept.
I have never been confused that a tuna steak contains fish and not meat.
Any organization that has the time to argue over this type of piffle should be disbanded.