French food producers will have to come up with new ways of describing vegan and vegetarian foods after they were outlawed.
French MPs have voted to ban the use of terms such as ‘vegetarian sausages’, ‘vegetarian mince’ and ‘vegan bacon’, claiming it misled shoppers.
Firms will no longer be able to use ‘burger’, ‘steak’ or ‘fillet’ to describe foods which have no meat in them, such as ‘ham’ slices or ‘chicken’ pies that are made out of soya and wheat.
French MPs have voted to ban the use of terms such as ‘vegetarian sausages’, ‘vegetarian mince’ and ‘vegan bacon’, claiming it misled shoppers
The new measures also includes dairy alternatives too.
The ban was put forward by MP Jean-Baptiste Moreau, who used an argument based on a judgment by the European Court of Justice last year which ruled that soya and tofu products could not be marketed as ‘milk’ or ‘butter’.
Mr Moreau, a farmer and member of Macron’s En Marche! party tweeted: ‘It is important to fight against false claims: our products must be designated correctly: the terms #cheese or #steak will be reserved for products of animal origin!’
Companies who chose to ignore the ban could be slapped with fines of up to €300,000 (£264,000).
Wendy Higgins, of Humane Society International, said: ‘It’s a shame that instead of embracing vegan and vegetarian food, France has adopted a position of defensive paranoia.
‘But ultimately it won’t stop the rise of compassionate eating because the delicious, nutritious, Earth-friendly and ethical benefits will prevail regardless of what you call the products.’
A tweet from Jean-Baptiste Mopeau celebrating the ban, which was approved by French MPs
Dairy alternatives, such as Soya milk, will also have to use a different name