France will make history by becoming the first country in the European Union to ban words like ‘steak’ and ‘sausage’ when advertising plant-based meals.
I take it they wouldn’t be big fans of Lord of the Fries.
The agreement first came to fruition in 2020 but will come into effect this October, according to The National.
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The official decree reads: “It will not be possible to use sector-specific terminology traditionally associated with meat and fish to designate products that do not belong to the animal world and which, in essence, are not comparable.”
Interbev, a meat industry, welcomed the move back in 2020, issuing a statement also requesting other countries adopt the agreement.
They wrote: “This provision is a first step on French territory, a pioneer in the protection of its names, which should be extended at the European level.”
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‘Milk’, ‘butter’ and ‘cheese’ have also been banned at the European level from being used in the descriptions when advertising plant-based alternative dairy products.
However, some US food chains have adopted the term ‘burger’ for many plant-based proteins, including Beyond Meat and Burger King.
France’s move to provide consumers with a little more transparency might even affect sales, as earlier this year, it was found that many don’t find the term ‘vegan’ appetising.
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According to Metro, the study was conducted by Meatless Farm and Brakes, a UK leading wholesaler that interviewed 2,000 British people about their attitudes toward vegan food.
Researchers discovered that 39 per cent of participants weren't too happy with the term and much preferred for a vegan item to be listed as ‘plant based’ instead.
The survey also found that only half of participants understood the term ‘vegan’, with nine per cent believing a plant-based diet only consists of green foods.
Founder of Meatless Farm, Morten Toft Bech, also supported this notion as products labelled 'plant-based' sell better as people still have hesitations regarding veganism, according to the outlet.
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He said: ‘Food culture is changing, and with that we need to rethink social labels.
“Whether you’re vegan or not, plant-based meat has advanced significantly over the last five years and appeals to a broad audience.”
He added: “We’ve always been committed to encouraging more meat eaters to make the switch to plant-based meat, and these findings show that more people may join the veganism movement if wording is changed on menus.
“The job at hand now is to entice as many people as possible to try a plant-based option and labelling vegan options as plant-based could be the ticket that really encourages people to go meatless more.”
Featured Image Credit: Alamy. Richard B Levine /Alamy.Topics: News, Food And Drink, World News, Vegan, Vegetarian