French meat substitutes marketing setback: Ban on terms like “bacon” and “steak”
23 Apr 2018 --- French politicians have banned meat-like terms from describing vegetarian and vegan food which means that words such as “steak” and “fillet” will only be used for products of animal origin. MP for La République En Marche party, Jean-Baptiste Moreau, initially proposed the ban claiming that using words and phrases such as “plant burgers” or “vegetarian sausage” were misleading to consumers.
Moreau, a farmer and member of President Macron’s En Marche! party tweeted: “Adoption of my amendment to better inform the consumer about their diet. It is important to fight against false claims. Our products must be designated correctly: the terms cheese and steak will be reserved for products of animal origin.”
The ban on this kind of vocabulary will also apply to dairy alternatives.
The move in France comes after an example last year from the dairy industry. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that terms like milk, cream and butter should only be used for animal products and must not be used to describe plant-based foods.
Now French MPs have voted to outlaw use of such vocabulary, claiming they mislead shoppers, food producers will be expected to dream up new ways to describe vegetarian, vegan and meat-free products and it could lead to some interesting results.
And the French ban could have broader ramifications and lead to others considering a similar move.
It is important to note that this ban relates to the way products are marketed and is in no way pushing the population towards heavy meat consumption. At the same time, the National Agency for Food Safety in France maintains advice that French consumers eat no more than 500g of red meat per week and up to 25g of processed meat per day.
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