France, following the autumn ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), officially recognized the use of such names as “steak” or “sausage” to describe plant products. Such names cannot be prohibited – the State Council informed.
“France cannot prohibit the use of commonly used food names of animal origin in the trade of food containing vegetable protein” – announced on Tuesday the State Council, which, among others He gives opinions on the government's legal acts in terms of their compliance with the law.
The State Council also canceled two government ordinances of 2022 and 2024, which forbade producers to use names related to meat products to describe plant products. This is the end of long court proceedings in this case – emphasized the daily “Le Figaro” on Wednesday.
Dispute names of plant products
The ajar ordinances met the demands of food producers of animal origin. This industry argued that names such as “plant ham”, “vegan sausages” or “vegetarian bacon” can mislead consumers. Organizations promoting vegetarianism and producing meatless foods that questioned the rules were of a different opinion. The dispute finally went to CJUE.
In the autumn of 2024, the CJEU ruled that the consumer is sufficiently protected by EU law, there is no risk of confusing products, and therefore the Member State may not prohibit the use of names traditionally related to animal products to mark plant products.
However, if the competent national authority finds that specific ways of selling or promoting food products mislead consumers, then he may initiate proceedings against their producer.
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