BRUSSELS (Reuters) -EU lawmakers voted on Wednesday to ban the use of the term “veggie-burger” and limit food descriptions such as steak, escalope and sausage to products containing meat, part of a proposed EU law to protect farmers.
Lawmakers at the European Parliament voted by 355 to 247 in favour of an amendment to a regulation designed to give farmers a stronger negotiating position so that powerful companies in the food supply chain do not impose unfavourable conditions.
The text of the final regulation will follow negotiations between representatives of the Parliament, EU governments and the Commission, with the Parliament backing a ban of terms such as “veggie-burger” or “vegan sausage”.
Its meat-only list also includes “hamburger”, “egg yolk” and “egg white”.
The EU has already defined dairy items milk, butter, cream, yoghurt and cheese as “products secreted by mammary glands”, meaning that what might otherwise be called oat milk is instead generally referred to as oat drink.
EU lawmakers in 2020 voted against a proposal to ban the use of meat-related terms for plant-based alternatives.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Ed Osmond)
