Vegan Society response to European Parliament vote on labelling vegan and vegetarian products
Responding to the European Parliament’s 355-247 vote to ban the use of words such as ‘burger’ and ‘steak’ to describe plant-based food variants, Claire Ogley, Head of Campaigns, Policy and Research at The Vegan Society said:
“There is no evidence to suggest that consumers are confused by commonly used food names. It’s pretty clear what a ‘vegan sausage’ is and that a ‘plant-based burger’ doesn’t come from a cow.
“A label such as the Vegan Trademark makes it clear that a product is fully vegan and is widely understood.
“Forcing food companies – including those that own both vegan and non-vegan brands – to change their labelling and packaging is going to be costly. It will also affect companies in the UK that export to the European Union. Those costs will inevitably be passed on to consumers.
“This is all smoke and mirrors – a protectionist panic move by powerful meat and dairy lobbies who are trying to turn the tide of increasing numbers of people who are following compassionate, healthy and environmentally-friendly lifestyles by avoiding animal products.
“Those meat and dairy lobbies are only concerned with their profits, not the welfare of people or the planet – and certainly not the animals they kill and use in order to make those profits.
“We should be encouraging more people to try plant-based alternatives, as the recent EAT-Lancet report recommended, not discouraging them by making a fuss about a problem that doesn’t exist.”
