Commission excludes ‘steak’, ‘sausage’ from crackdown on veggie meat labelling

A draft proposal by the European Commission seeks to restrict the use of traditional meat terms for plant-based products but does not go as far as banning widely used terms such as “steak”, “burger”, and “sausage”.

The Commission's initiative follows pressure from EU farm ministers and lawmakers to prevent plant-based alternatives from using traditional meat names.

The proposal, which was seen by Euractiv, is part of the Commission's broader review of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) regulation, set to be unveiled on Wednesday. It lists 29 protected items, including "meat", “chicken”, “beef”, “breast”, “wing”, and “chop”.

Notably absent from the list is “steak” – a key term that some ministers and MEPs had specifically targeted.

At Monday’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council, French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard once again targeted the term “veggie steak” in a debate on proteins. In Parliament, French MEP Céline Imart of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) is pushing to protect “steak” in the parallel review of the CMO regulation.

Only “bacon” is singled out among processed meats, leaving terms such as “sausage” and “burger” off the table.

The draft states that protected names must be reserved for products derived "exclusively" from meat at all stages of marketing. It also clarifies that other substances may be added, provided they are not intended to replace any meat constituent.

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“Specific legal provisions should be introduced to protect meat-related terms,” reads the draft, adding that such terms often carry “cultural and historical significance”.

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