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EU Parliament’s proposal to ban the use of traditional meat names such as ‘burger’, ‘sausage’, and ‘schnitzel’ for plant-based products has been dismissed in the Netherlands.
In the Action Plan for the Labeling of Foods, the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sports has approved using the names of meat products, ‘provided that it is clear that it is a vegetarian version’.
Global food awareness organization Pro Veg, described the EU’s intention as an ‘unnecessary and patronizing restriction which will stifle positive change’ – and managed to receive more than 74,000 online signatures against the ban.
‘Everyone’s interest’
“We are pleased that the Dutch government confirms that the meat industry does not have the exclusive right to words such as ‘burger’ and ‘sausage’,” Pro Veg said in a statement.
“These terms have been helping consumers of both animal and vegetarian products for years to quickly get an idea of ??what type of ‘meat’ they are consuming. That recognizable terms are used is therefore in everyone’s interest.”
Pablo Moleman, Food Industry Manager at ProVeg Netherlands, added: “It is not in the interest of the producer to be secretive about it. The fact that it does not contain animal meat is the most important selling point. That is why we also see in practice that there is never any confusion.”
