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

Meat Industry Campaign

On 23 October we learned the result of the vote by MEPs in Brussels on the meat designations on all vegan products that have been on the market in Europe for months.

Unfortunately, all our efforts to support the industry in not confusing the consumer by naming meat industry foods correctly have been in vain, as the final results confirm that for the time being, it will be legal to talk in terms of "hamburger" or "Nugetts" to products that are 100% derived from soya and other vegetable products.

Amendment 165, which had already been adopted in the Agriculture Committee, stipulated that certain designations such as hamburger or steak should be reserved for "meat preparations", i.e. meat that is fresh or has undergone processes that do not "alter its muscle fibre structure". However, a majority of MEPs believe that a tofu burger should not be deprived of this designation. The amendment was rejected by 379 votes against, 284 in favour and 27 abstentions.

Employers: 'Ceci n'est pas un burger'.

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

"No more surrealistic designations for meat and dairy products!

Statement by the Copa-Cogeca employers' association.

Environmental, vegetarian and vegan organisations, among others, had argued the opposite. Large European corporations such as Ikea and Unilever added to this thesis and argued that amendment 165 went "against the growing consumer interest" in alternatives to animal products, whether for dietary, health or environmental reasons. In addition, they argued that it could hinder competition by introducing barriers to entry in the food market.

This is not the first time that the European institutions have faced this debate. In 2017, the EU Court of Justice ruled that soya and tofu products presented as alternatives to milk and butter could not be called "milk" or "butter". MEPs backed extending this measure to almond drink.

We at Propollo hope that in the future we will be able to call things by their true name.

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