'ceci n'est pas un steak', the campaign to call a spade a spade

On October 23, we learned the result of the vote by parliamentarians in Brussels on the names of meat in all vegan products that have been marketed in Europe for months.

Unfortunately all our efforts to support the industry, which poses not to confuse the consumer by correctly naming foods from the meat industry, have been in vain, since the final results confirm that for the moment, it will be legal to speak in terms of "burger" or "Nugetts" to products that are 100% derived from soybeans and other plant products.

The amendment 165, which had already been approved in the Agriculture Committee, established that certain names such as hamburger either steak They should be reserved for “meat preparations”, That is, fresh meat or meat subjected to processes that do not “alter its muscle fiber structure.” However, the majority of deputies believe that a tofu burger cannot be deprived of that name. The amendment has been rejected by 379 votes against, 284 in favor and 27 abstentions.

The bosses' association: 'Ceci n'est pas un burger'

The controversy had mobilized the main European employers, associations and companies. While the possibility of the European Parliament condoning the veggie burger, the European livestock sector, in a nod to Magritte, used the image of that delicacy to launch the campaign Ceci n'est pas un burger ('This is not a hamburger, in French).

“Enough of the surreal names for meat and dairy!”

Statement from the Copa-Cogeca employers' association.

Environmental, vegetarian and vegan entities, among others, had defended the opposite. Large European corporations such as Ikea or Unilever joined this thesis and defended that amendment 165 went “against the growing consumer interest” in alternatives to animal products, whether for reasons of diet, health or the environment. In addition, they maintained that it could act as a brake on competition by introducing entry barriers in the food market.

It is not the first time that the European institutions have faced this debate. In 2017, the Court of Justice of the EU already ruled that soy and tofu products that were presented as an alternative to these foods could not be called “milk” or “butter.” In this regard, the deputies have supported extending this measure to almond drink.

At Propollo we hope that in the future things can be called by their true name.