France to ban ‘misleading’ veggie meat products
French MPs have banned food manufacturers from labelling vegetable-based products as meat substitutes.
The ban, agreed on Thursday (19 April) will effectively see an end to products labelled as soya “steaks”, vegetarian “sausages” and vegan “cheese”.
French lawmakers ruled that to market vegetable-based products as meat substitutes is “misleading” for consumers.
See also: Opinion – Don’t waste time arguing with vegan campaigners online
The ban was proposed by MP and farmer Jean-Baptiste Moreau, who said the move would “better inform” customers.
He tweeted: “Our products must be given correctly: the terms of #cheese or #steak will be reserved for animal products.”
✅🥩🧀Adoption de mon amendement pour mieux informer le #consommateur sur son alimentation!Il est important de lutter contre les fausses allégations:nos produits doivent être désignés correctement:les termes de #fromage ou de #steak seront réservés aux produits d’origine animale! pic.twitter.com/E8SQ61cjaT
— Jean Baptiste Moreau (@moreaujb23) April 19, 2018
Threat of fines
Food companies and manufacturers who fail to comply with the legislation could be fined up to €300,000 (£263,000).
All eyes will now turn to the UK to see whether this country adopts similar legislation.
In January, Marks & Spencer sparked controversy with its “cauliflower steak” product, which came under fire not only for its lofty price (£2 per packet) and packaging, but also its misleading name.
M&S later withdrew the product from its shelves.