During a significant decision on Wednesday, MEPs decided by a margin of 355-247 to restrict food names including "burger" and "schnitzel" exclusively for meat products.
If the measure becomes law, popular vegetarian products such as plant-based burgers, soy steak, and cauliflower schnitzel may need to change their names throughout European Union markets.
Nevertheless, for the ban to be enforced, it needs to receive approval from a majority of the EU's 27 countries, something that is far from certain.
Supporters argue that customers need clear labeling and that traditional names must exclusively refer to products from livestock.
"An escalope and sausages are products from our livestock: not from laboratory art nor vegetable sources," stated France's lawmaker Céline Imart.
Opponents, including Green MEPs, called the move populist maneuvering.
"Plant-based burgers, seitan schnitzel and soy sausage do not confuse shoppers, only rightwing politicians," declared Austria's Green MEP Thomas Waitz.
This isn't the first attempt to regulate such names. The European parliament voted down a comparable prohibition in 2020.
France earlier enacted a national restriction on traditional names for plant-based foods in recent years, but the European court of justice ruled it invalid under European legislation in this year.
Major German retailers such as Aldi and Lidl oppose the measure, cautioning that changing established names would mislead shoppers.
Advocacy organizations point to surveys indicating that the majority of consumers understand product labels as long as products are properly marked as vegan.
"Nearly seventy percent of consumers understand the terminology as long as products are explicitly labelled plant-based," noted Irina Popescu, a food policy expert at BEUC.
The legislative measure now faces review by EU member states, and it must secure broad support to be enacted.
Given the divided opinions within various lawmakers and the public, the future of this initiative remains uncertain.
Elara is a seasoned writer and digital storyteller with a passion for exploring diverse literary genres and empowering others through words.
