France aims to ban vegan steaks and other 21 'meaty' terms for plant-based food

As plant-based meat alternatives have been growing in popularity in France in recent years, the livestock farmers and meat companies started a war with the vegan food producers over which terms can be used on plant-based product labels.

This week, France’s agriculture ministry said the government plans to ban the use of meaty terms on vegan food. According to the proposed law, vegan food makers will be completely prohibited from using words associated with particular animal parts, such as “loin” and “flank,” and the term “butcher” when describing and advertising products containing plant-based proteins.
The ban will include 21 meat terms, such as ham, fillet and steak, from vegan food labels.

There is a second list of 120 banned words, including “sausage”, “bacon,” and “pastrami”, which will be allowed only to describe products of animal origin which may contain some plant proteins but only if the plant protein levels do not exceed a specified threshold. The only word that does not appear on the list is “burger”.

If the law gets approved by the European Commission, it will be Europe’s strictest law banning the use of meat terms for vegan foods.
So far, similar law exists only in several US states and South Africa.

France’s agriculture minister, Marc Fesneau, said putting an end to misleading customers was a key priority of the French government, and the ban was necessary for maintaining the consumers’ trust.

He said in a statement:* "It is an issue of transparency and loyalty which meets a legitimate expectation of consumers and producers.
“It is an issue of transparency and loyalty which meets a legitimate expectation of consumers and producers.”*

According to a poll in 2020, less than 1% of the French population identifies as vegan and just about 24% of French people try to reduce meat consumption and follow a flexitarian diet. The sales of vegan products in French supermarkets were estimated $120 million in 2022 (showing a stable growth year on year) however it is much lower than in other European countries.

Plant-based diet campaigners and organisations suggest the latest law is only to protect meat and dairy industry.

Jasmijn de Boo, Global CEO of ProVeg International, commented: “Consumers are not confused,” she said. “They know perfectly well what they’re looking for: food made free from animals. That’s why these products should have logical names that people are familiar with.”