The European Court of Justice ruled on October 4 that plant-based foods can continue to use terms traditionally associated with meat, such as “steak” or “sausage,” provided their ingredients are clearly labelled and do not mislead consumers.
The court emphasised that “a member state cannot prohibit the use of terms like ‘steak’ or ‘sausage,’ even for plant-based products unless a specific legal designation is adopted.”
This ruling directly challenges a decree from France’s High Court, which banned the use of meat-related terms for plant-based products, even when qualified with words like “vegetable” or “soya”.
The decree was backed by the animal agriculture industry, which argued that terms like “vegan ham,” “vegan sausage” or “vegetarian bacon” could confuse consumers.
The European Vegetarian Union (EVU) and the Vegetarian Association of France opposed this French court decision and the matter was referred to the European Court of Justice.
The EU Court found that the French law, which prohibited the use of meat-related names for plant-based products, even when clearly labelled with additional terms like “vegetable” or “soya,” infringed on EU regulations.
This ruling might set a standard for how plant-based products are labelled and marketed within the European Single Market as the demand for vegan and vegetarian products surged across Europe.
In 2020 the European Parliament approved that plant-based products continue being labelled as “veggie burgers” or “vegan sausages” across European restaurants.
