Friday, July 25, 2025

EU wants to ban some ‘meaty’ names, but not others

NewsUS NewsEU wants to ban some ‘meaty’ names, but not others
  • The EU Commission has released a proposal to ban 29 meat-related terms for meat-free products.
  • Some terms, such as “steak”, “sausage” and “burger,” are not covered.
  • The Commission cites market transparency and the terms’ cultural significance to justify the ban.
  • Research on whether consumers are confused by such terms has varied in the past.

Plant-based naming restrictions are back! A recent proposal from the European Commission has set out a list of 29 words that cannot be used to market products that do not contain meat.

Meat, it clarifies, means exclusively “the edible part of the animal”.

This comes after a previous attempt to ban such terms, which was defeated in the European Parliament in 2020.

In the current proposal, there are a number of terms curiously absent from the list.

29 ‘meaty’ names banned

In its proposal, the European Commission has laid out 29 words that cannot be used to market animal-free products.

These are terms such as “beef,” “pork,” “chicken,” “bacon,” and “duck”. The list also includes different cuts of meat, such as “sirloin,” “tenderloin,” and “breast”.

These restrictions are being proposed, says the Commission, in order to enhance transparency in the EU market, and to ensure that consumers are making “well-informed” choices.

Such bans are important, the Commission suggests, because consumers may be looking for a particular nutritional content associated with a meat product.

The Commission also stresses that meat-related terms often carry “cultural significance.”

However, words such as “burger”, “sausage” or “steak” are not included in the Commission’s proposal, meaning that plant-based meat manufacturers would still have some leeway were it passed.

All three terms have previously been targeted for banning by MEP Céline Imart.

What terms are banned?

Terms banned under the proposal would include bacon, beef, veal, pork, poultry, chicken, turkey, duck, goose, lamb, mutton, ovine, goat, drumstick, tenderloin, sirloin, flank, loin, ribs, shoulder, shank, chop, wing, breast, thigh, brisket, ribeye, T-bone, and rump.

Are consumers actually confused by ‘meaty’ names?

One of the key arguments against the use of ‘meaty’ names for plant-based products is that it creates consumer confusion. There is extensive research into this, with varying results.

Some studies have pointed towards most consumers showing little confusion at the use of such terms.

For example, a 2022 German study found that when consumers find meat-free products, such as vegetarian Fleischsalat (a German meat salad) and vegetarian chicken nuggets, in the supermarket, the vast majority are able to designate correctly that these products are meat-free, in spite of their names.

However, a later study, published earlier this year, suggests that some confusion may persist.

In the study, consumers were asked to categorise products as either plant-based or animal-based. When products used ‘meaty’ names, participants made significantly more mistakes. They also took very slightly longer to respond.

The study did also stress that such confusion was based on more than the just name – also influencing these outcomes were marketing, label design, and even placement within a supermarket.

Why ‘meaty’ names are controversial

One of the key controversies around plant-based products has long been what to call them.

While many imitate actual meat products – bacon, burgers, chicken, and steaks – they are not made out of the same stuff.

For this reason, some have argued that calling them after these products misleads consumers and poses a threat to the traditional meat industry. The Commission’s latest proposal is far from the first such attempt to ban such terms.

Italy and France, for example, have both tried to ban certain ‘meaty’ names for plant-based products, although the latter was thrown out by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

A 2017 ruling by the ECJ banned some dairy-based terms in the EU, such as “milk,” “butter,” “cheese,” and “yoghurt”.

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