France has announced it will ban the use of meat terms on plant-based alternatives, becoming the first member state of the EU to do so.
The ban, originally agreed in 2020, will come into effect in October this year, prohibiting the use of terms traditionally used to describe meat products.
These include terms such as ‘sausage’, ‘steak’, and ‘bacon’, with the exception of burger.
French farming bodies such as the National Federation of Farmers' Union (FNSEA) had lobbied for the changes to avoid consumer confusion.
They had described plant alternatives "as not comparable to their meat derived counterparts."
The official decree reads: ‘’It will not be possible to use sector-specific terminology traditionally associated with meat and fish to label products that do not belong to the animal world and which, in essence, are not comparable."
The regulation is limited in that it will only apply to products manufactured or marketed in France, meaning imported products will still be able to use meat terms.
As the changes will not apply to imported products, French food industry associations are calling for widening of the regulation to apply to all products regardless of their origin and that similar laws should be enacted at the European level for the protection of meat products.
Currently at a European level only dairy terms and descriptions such as “milk” and “cheese” are protected. They cannot be used to label plant-based products such as soya drinks.
Responding to the development, the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) said it was 'thought provoking' as Northern Ireland was a key beef producer and exporter.
"Ulster Farmers’ Union members regularly report frustration with the lack of protection for meat products compared to dairy produce," said the union's policy officer, Sarah Morrel.
"Whilst plant-based companies make a lot of noise on social media and our TV screens prompting their products - high price, lack of nutritional value and the taste of products have been curtailing sales over the past few years.
"The changes to regulations in France, are thought provoking not only for NI as a key beef producer and exporter, but for the rest of the UK and Europe."
