The European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has passed a proposal to ban plant-based foods from using "meaty" terms like "steak" and "sausage". This move is part of a revision of the Common Market Organization Regulation and is now pending a plenary vote by all European Parliament members. Proponents argue that using meat-like names for plant-based products is misleading consumers, while critics suggest that the push to restrict labelling is driven by lobbying from the meat industry, which views meat-free alternatives as competition.

This proposal follows a similar European Commission proposal earlier this year to prohibit plant-based products from using 29 meat-related terms. Despite efforts to restrict labelling, research shows that consumers are not confused by the use of these terms as long as products are clearly labelled as vegan or vegetarian. MEPs had rejected a similar amendment in 2020, and the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled last year that plant-based meat producers could use traditional animal food terms as long as ingredient labels are clear.