As Europe’s processed meat lobby presses the Commission to ban vegetarian products from using meat names, FoodDrinkEurope (FDE) and the European Vegetarian Union (EVU) are close to agreeing on a definition of vegetarian and vegan.
Earlier this month the president of CLITRAVI, the association that represents meat processors, Robert Volut addressed a letter to Jerzy Bogdan Plewa, director general for agriculture and rural development, and director-general for health and food security Xavier Prats Monné, asking them to ban plant-based products from using meat terms on packaging and advertising.
Article 36
According to CLITRAVI, article 36.3(b) in the Food Information to Consumers (FIC) regulation requires the Commission to act on the issue of meat denominations.
The article states: “The Commission shall adopt implementing acts on the application of the requirements referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article to […]
information related to suitability of a food for vegetarians or vegans.”
But the EVU, which believes plant-based products should be able to reference the 'original' foods they are imitating, has questioned the legal basis on which CLITRAVI wants the Commission to act.
Its public affairs manager Till Strecker told us article 36 is more commonly understood to refer to a legally-binding definition of vegetarian and vegan food.
EVU: We are close to reaching a joint definition with industry
And despite the stalemate on the nomenclature, EVU has been in talks with pan-Europe association FoodDrinkEurope (FDE) - of which CLITRAVI is a member - to agree on this very definition.
Strecker said the talks, which should wind up next month, have been making good headway and the two parties have almost come to a joint position which will be presented to the Commission.
This in itself is a significant development, said Strecker. “I think we will see development [on getting a definition of vegetarian/vegan] within the next year, and this is quite a clear message to the Commission. We are going forward together with FDE with a proposal.
“Interested consumers and the food industry are coming together and calling for this initiative, and this is quite powerful move that, I hope, is sufficient.”
Plant-based meat denominations are not part of the talks.
In any case, a number of Europe’s high level politicians have pressed the Commission to act on meat alternative denominations over the past year, including Germany’s agricultural minister Christian Schmidt, but it has shown little appetite for action.
"The Commission is currently not planning to introduce reserved terms for meat products," the commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis said in one written response.
According to Strecker, however, this stems more from the fact that it has more pressing issues to deal with, rather than a lack of interest or political will.
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