EU top court rules in favour of veggie burgers in labelling dispute

EU member states cannot stop food manufacturers giving vegetarian foods labels traditionally associated with meat in order to appeal to consumers, provided they do explain clearly what is actually inside the products, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Friday.  

Common meat-related terms such as steak, sausage, escalope and burger are fair game for marketing vegetarian fare, so long as a country has not established a specific legal name for a vegetable protein-based food, the court said.  

A 2021 French law designed to enhance transparency for consumers banned the use of meat-related terms such as “veggie burgers” or “vegan sausages” from being used to market foods made from plant-based proteins. 

Advocacy groups including the European Vegetarian Union (EVU) and the Association Végétarienne de France (AVF) challenged the decree, arguing that it conflicted with EU law.  

In August 2023, the French Council of State, a governmental body that advises both the executive and judiciary, referred the case to the European Court of Justice, the primary authority on interpreting EU law.  

Now, EU judges have ruled that while member states can create legal names for foods – that is, use specific terms to refer to particular food products, including plant-based alternatives – if they do not do so, they cannot prevent manufacturers of plant-based protein foods from using common descriptive names to label products.  

The court underlined that its decision did not affect a member state’s right to enforce consumer protection rules where it considers marketing misleading.  

“By ensuring clarity in food labelling, we can promote plant-based alternatives and work towards achieving environmental targets as well as boost EU competitiveness and innovation,” said Rafael Pinto, EU policy manager at the European Vegetarian Union, in a press release reacting to the ruling. 

Broader implications

Plant-based protein products are increasingly popular across the EU, but uncertainty remains about how these products should be labelled and marketed within the Single Market.  

The EU court’s ruling is likely to have far-reaching consequences, as countries including Belgium and Italy were considering introducing a law similar to France’s.  

A comparable legal issue arose in 2017 when the EU’s top court was asked to address the use of dairy-related terms for plant-based products, such as soy and oat drinks.  

At the time, the ECJ ruled that only products containing actual dairy could use terms such as milk, butter, or yoghurt, which resulted in plant-based alternatives being labelled as “drinks” on European shelves.  

Food labelling in the EU has been regulated since the early 1990s, with trade rules for most products sold in Europe falling under the EU’s Common Market Organisations (CMOs) within the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This framework governs the production and trade of both animal- and plant-based foods across the EU.  

In 2020, the European Parliament rejected an attempt to reserve meat-related names exclusively for products made from animal parts during discussions on the latest reform of EU agricultural subsidies. This decision followed a vote by MEPs against a series of amendments aimed at imposing stricter labelling rules for plant-based products.