Vegan and vegetarian food and dishes are becoming increasingly popular in Europe. Current figures from Germany, for example, show that interest in such products increased significantly in 2021. In Germany alone, 98,000 tonnes of food containing meat-alternative ingredients were produced in 2021; similar growth rates can be seen in other European countries.

A Setback in France

However, in France, there is now a setback for advocates of vegan or vegetarian alternatives. From 1 October 2022, food products will only be allowed to have specific names from the meat, sausage and fish industries if they contain meat or fish. In other words, what we historically refer to as steak, sausage, ham, salmon and cod, for example, must contain their respective meat or fish ingredients instead of plant-based alternatives.

New regulation does not affect imported goods

The exact wording of the law sets out: »The use of terms traditionally associated with meat and fish to describe products that do not belong to the animal kingdom will no longer be possible.« Currently, this law only applies to food products produced in France. To date, the new regulation does not yet affect imported goods.

Bitter discussions expected

The French meat industry has demanded such a legal requirement for a long time. Extensive lobbying is also taking place in this regard in other countries. Sharp criticism, however, comes from organisations such as the Observatoire national de l'alimentation végétale. Over the next few months, we can expect to see bitter discussions on an EU-wide regulation regarding naming vegan or vegetarian food. In the EU, according to a decision made by the European Court of Justice, alternatives to dairy products such as cheese, milk and yoghurt may not be given such names.