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Top EU court rules that using ‘meaty’ names for plant-based products is lawful

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rules against banning meat terminology on plant-based products.

On 4th October 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the highest court among the Member States, ruled against a French decree that would restrict producers from using meat-like words such as ‘steak’ or ‘sausage’ to describe plant-based products that contain vegetable proteins.

The recent case

The issue of whether meat-sounding names are permissible on plant-based food product packaging and marketing was a point of focus in Case C-438/23: Protéines France and Others.

The case has been brought by four companies and organisations active in the vegetarian and vegetable products industry: the French protein association (Association Protéines France), the European vegetarian union (Union végétarienne européenne (EVU)), the French vegetarian association (Association végétarienne de France (AVF)), and the plant-based meat company Beyond Meat.

They argue that the decree infringes Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. The regulation is the main law that sets out provisions for conveying food information to consumers in the European Union (EU).

With regards to labelling plant-based food products, the CJEU ruled that “where no legal name has been adopted, a Member State may not prohibit the use of terms traditionally associated with products of animal origin to designate a product containing vegetable proteins”.

“The full harmonisation provided for by the European framework for consumer information also precludes measures determining levels of vegetable proteins below which the use of names, other than legal names, consisting of such terms for foods containing vegetable proteins remains authorised,” the CJEU said.

The CJEU did state that where food sales or promotions are deemed misleading, the national authority may prosecute the food business operator concerned.

Questioning the French decree

In 2022, the French authorities adopted a decree on using specific names to designate foods containing vegetable proteins. Following the introduction of the 2022 French decree, which was considered incompatible with EU food labelling laws, another decree entered the legal food sector in 2024.

The 2024 decree repealed the 2022 decree, and while it made some changes, it kept the ban on using names associated with products of animal origin to describe, market or promote vegetable-protein-based foods. The decree refers to vegetable proteins with or without indications of plant-based product status, like ‘vegetable’ or ‘soya’.

Pivotal point for plant-based producers

A ban on meat-like references on plant-based products is not going ahead. Producers and marketers can therefore continue to use meat-sounding names like ‘steak’, ‘burger’ and ‘sausage’ on their vegetable protein-based goods.

On the basis that European legislation already provides consumers with sufficient protection, the judgement errs on the side of avoiding restrictions on plant-based producers and brands.

Demonstrating the ramifications of this decision beyond France, the CJEU does not authorise any national regulation that goes against harmonising European names. If meat-sounding names like ‘sausage’ and ‘steak’ became a priority for the government, each meat product would require a specific legal name, requiring an extensive legal process to accompany this change.

The decision signals the importance of recognising consumers’ agency in making informed choices about the products they purchase. Following this judgement, the Council of State is expected to rule on the entire case in the next few months.

Reaction from industry

On the day of the CJEU’s ruling, one of the companies in the case, the Association végétarienne de France (AVF), published a press release detailing the breaking news, indicating that reserving the use of meat designations from animal origin products only is inadmissible.

According to the CJEU, the French law would be illegal under EU law because not all meaty terms are regulated as legal names. This means they are not “properly codified by law in terms of quality and/or composition”, Francesco Montanari, Agri-food lawyer and Food Law Researcher at Wageningen & Research University and Nova School of Law, said in a LinkedIn post. Instead, they would be “mere customary or descriptive names”.

Plant-based producers and brands can continue to use meat-sounding names for the purposes of describing, marketing and promoting their products.

“This judgement is a victory for common sense,” Elena Walden, senior policy manager at nonprofit and think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe, told Ingredients Network.

“With survey after survey showing that Europeans support the use of clear labelling like ‘veggie burger’, we hope that governments will now move on from pursuing needless restrictions stifling consumer choice and instead invest in sustainable options that can help boost food security,” Walden added.