The European Parliament is voting this week on whether cultured meat or plant-based foods can be called 'meat', 'burger', or 'steak'. Some Members of Parliament want only products that truly contain meat to be permitted to use these names. It is far from certain that such a European ban will ever be implemented.
European agricultural organizations and the meat industry have campaigned against veggie burgers, soy steaks, and similar products for several years. They believe that consumers are being misled by these names.
A proposal to allow these names only for actual meat products was already approved in 2019 by the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament. Now the entire parliament must vote on the matter, but those oriented towards agriculture are in the minority there.
If it is up to the Party for the Animals, 'veggie burgers' and 'vegan schnitzels' will simply remain on the menu. Member of the European Parliament Anja Hazekamp (PvdD) and GroenLinks members have submitted counterproposals to remove the looming European ban on veggie burgers.
The proposals from supporters and opponents are included among nearly two thousand proposals being discussed and voted on this week – remotely, from home, and by telephone. It is already expected that voting will continue until late Friday evening.
Hazekamp points out that meat substitutes are more environmentally and animal friendly than their meaty counterparts. "Brussels should actually make it more attractive for consumers to choose sustainable meat alternatives, rather than erecting this kind of absurd barriers. First announcing climate plans and a Green Deal with much fanfare and then imposing a ban on vegan burgers is quite inconsistent, considering that the livestock industry emits more greenhouse gases than all the cars in Europe combined," say opponents of a name ban.