Food | The EU court overturned the French order: Vegetable products can be called steaks and sausages

of the EU The General Court (CJUE) overturned on Friday the French government’s order, according to which manufacturers are not allowed to call plant-based products steaks or sausages. According to the court, EU states cannot prohibit the use of commonly used terms if they do not have legal definitions.

France mandated name protection through regulations this year and the following year, at the end of animal industry lobbying. According to it, the names of vegetable products referring to meat caused confusion for consumers. The regulations limited, among other things, the use of the words ham, steak, sausage and bacon to products of animal origin.

French manufacturers of vegetarian products and the European Vegetarian Union took the matter to court, and France’s Supreme Administrative Court suspended the implementation of the ban pending a decision by the General Court. The lower court had already stated that the ban would seriously harm the interests of manufacturers of vegetable protein products.

“This is a very welcome victory,” comments the La Vie company that produces vegetable meats.

According to the company’s lawyer, words such as vegetable steak have been in common use for 40 years.

According to Interbev, the umbrella organization of the French meat industry, the decision “reinforced the usurpation of natural products for the commercialization of highly modified foods.”