đź”— Share this article EU Parliament Decide to Ban Meat-Related Terms for Plant-Based Foods During a major vote on Wednesday, MEPs voted by a margin of 355-247 to reserve food names such as "steak" and "schnitzel" solely for animal-derived foods. The Decision Signifies If the measure becomes law, common plant-based products like veggie burgers, tofu steak, and cauliflower schnitzel could have to change their names across European Union countries. Nevertheless, for the restriction to be enforced, it needs to receive approval from most of the EU's 27 member states, which remains far from certain. Key Debate Surrounding the Proposal Supporters contend that customers require clear labeling and that traditional names should exclusively describe products from animals. "A steak and sausages represent goods from animal farming: not synthetic production or plant products," said French MEP CĂ©line Imart. Critics, including Green MEPs, described the move populist tactics. "Plant-based burgers, wheat schnitzel and tofu sausage do not confuse consumers, only rightwing politicians," declared Austria's Green MEP Thomas Waitz. Previous Efforts and Legal Background The isn't the first effort to regulate these names. The European parliament voted down a comparable ban in four years ago. The French government previously enacted a domestic restriction on meat terms for plant-based foods in 2020, but EU courts ruled it invalid under European legislation in this year. Business and Consumer Response Leading Germany's supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl object to the measure, cautioning that altering established terms would mislead consumers. Advocacy organizations point to surveys indicating that the majority of consumers comprehend these names as long as products are properly marked as vegetarian. "Nearly seventy percent of shoppers understand the terminology provided products are explicitly labelled vegan or vegetarian," said Irina Popescu, a consumer officer at BEUC. What Next This proposal next requires review by European governments, and it needs to secure broad approval to be enacted. Considering the mixed views among both politicians and the public, the outcome of the proposal is still unclear.