EU Parliament pushes for ‘veggie burger’ ban amid push to protect livestock farmers
Lawmakers at the European Parliament vote to tighten labelling rules for plant-based foods, reigniting debate over consumer clarity and industry innovation.
What you need to know
🔹 The European Parliament voted to ban meat-related terms for plant-based products.
🔹 The proposal divided MEPs, sparking debate between agricultural tradition and innovation.
🔹 A compromise limiting only animal-specific words failed to gain enough support.
🔹 The decision pressures the Commission amid wider reforms on labelling and food rules.
T he European Parliament has backed a contentious move to ban terms such as “burger” and “steak” for plant-based products, reigniting Europe’s long-running debate over food labelling and agricultural identity.
The vote, held in Strasbourg on Wednesday, saw 355 MEPs in favour, 247 against and 30 abstentions, urging the European Commission and Council to act on the issue as part of a wider reform of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) regulation.
“What’s at stake is the integrity of our livestock farms,” said Céline Imart (EPP, Les Républicains, France), who led the report in Parliament’s agriculture committee. “A steak, an escalope, or a sausage are products from our livestock farms, period. No laboratory substitutes, no plant-based products.”
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