By Ada García Molada, LLM Student International Human Rights Law, University of Groningen, a.garcia.molada student.rug.nl 

Nowadays, vegetarian and plant-based diets are becoming more popular, as research shows these diets help to prevent, treat, or reverse some non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Other studies also indicate they improve digestion, increasing energy, and physical functioning, including mental health.[1]

In recent years, a new market has emerged in the food industry. In USA, research shows that sales of plant-based products has grown 29% in the past two years, decreasing the demand for animal products.[2] The European Commission has also recognized the increased popularity of these products. In its 2018 report, it was confirmed that the EU Protein Plan will include measures to encourage the production of plant proteins.[3] The growing popularity of plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products has become the major competitor for the meat lobby and animal farmers’ associations.

The European Parliament divided

Since 2019 there has been a battle in the European Parliament (EP) about several proposals at the detriment of plant-based products. One proposal, presented by the French socialist Éric Andrieu, aimed to ban terms such as “veggie burger” or “veggie sausage”. In the amendment 165, or “the veggie burger ban”, he proposed to rename those products as “veggie discs” and “veggie tubes”. [4]

Another proposal, amendment 171, refers to the trade names of dairy substitutes, prohibiting the use of terms like “yoghurt-style” or “alternative to cheese”.[5] Terms like “almond milk” or “vegan cheese” are already banned in the EU. According to recent case law, “milk products” refers exclusively to products which are derived from milk like cream, butter, yoghurt, etc.,[6] therefore, amendment 171 extends the restrictions.

On the one hand, the meat lobbyists and the largest lobbying group in the EU representing animal farmers’ associations, Copa-Cogeca, have been claiming that the use of these terms is exclusive for products containing meat. Jean-Pierre Fleury, from Copa-Cogeca, has referred as “cultural hijacking”. On the other hand, thousands of activists and organizations around Europe have been strongly critical with these proposals, like The Good Food Institute (GFI). The international organization for food awareness, ProVeg, started a campaign to stop the “veggie burger ban”, and more than 200.000 Europeans signed their petition. Jasmijn de Boo, ProVeg’s Vice President, has reiterated that those proposals lack of any common sense. She argues consumers know what they are buying, and highlights that those amendments directly contradict the EU objectives in the European Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategy.[7]  Furthermore, huge companies have also opted for plant-based products. Nestle, Upfield, Oatly, and Beyond Meat formed the European Alliance for Plant-based Foods (EAPF), jointly with ProVeg and GFI.[8] In particular, Nestle and Unilever sustain that the argument is ridiculous, emphasising the contradiction with respect to the EU’s goals to advance a sustainable food system.[9]

On 23 October 2020, the EP rejected the ‘veggie burger ban’. However, it voted in favor of amendment 171. This amendment still protects the dairy industry, as it limits the possibility of marketing the beneficial nature of plant-based products, both for health and the environment. For instance, labels such as “half of the carbon emissions of dairy butter” are not allowed.[10] The further restrictions for dairy alternatives will have an impact on the plant-based dairy businesses. Renaming and remarking products, as well as high legal costs might result in significant financial and practical challenges.[11] The #StandUpForPlantBased campaign, promoted by the EAPF, further develops the implications.

 Possible solution

Consumers who were buying plant-based products will continue buying them, because they are making conscious choices to live more ethical, sustainable, and healthier lives. Consumers know that they will not find any meat in plant-based products, precisely because they are trying to avoid it. There are other examples, like hot dogs, crab sticks or peanut butter, which are, in fact, not true to their name. If plant based products must be renamed, the line of argument should also extent to those products. During negotiations over the Common Agriculture Policy[12], in 2021[13], EU’s national governments will have the opportunity to oppose to these restrictions.[14]

The debate in the EP clearly shows a conflict of interests between the plant-based business sector, the meat lobbyists, and EU’s economic interests. Indeed, according to the NYT, half of the MEPs have ties to the farm industry.[15] It is crucial to put an end to unnecessary policies which restrict the denomination of plant-based products. Nevertheless, it is also necessary to reach an agreement between the parties, giving time to the meat lobby and animal farmers to adapt their market to consumer’s demands. Conversely, Article 5(3) of FCTC[16] can serve as basis to implement a new agricultural policy, in which Parties shall act to protect consumer’s interests from commercial and economic interests of the meat industry in order to promote sustainable and healthier food systems.

[1] Michael Greger, ’Plant-based Diets’ (nutritionfacts.org) <https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/plant-based-diets/> accessed 09 December 2020.

[2] ‘Plant-Based Market Overview’ (The Good Food Institute, 2020) <https://www.gfi.org/marketresearch> accessed 09 December 2020.

[3] European Commission, ‘Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the development of plant proteins in the European Union’ COM (22 November 2018) 0757 final.

[4] Lorna Hutchinson, ‘“Veggie discs” to replace veggie burgers in EU crackdown on food labels’ (The Guardian, 2019)

<https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/apr/04/eu-to-ban-non-meat-product-labels-veggie-burgers-and-vegan-steaks> accessed 09 December 2020.

[5] Eurogroup for Animals ‘No more veggie burgers? European Parliament to vote on terminology for plant-based meat and dairy substitutes’ (eurogroupforanimals.org, 2020) <https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/no-more-veggie-burgers-european-parliament-vote-terminology-plant-based-meat-and-dairy> accessed 09 December 2020.

[6] See eg Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb eV v TofuTown.com GmbH (European Court of Justice, 27 June 2017).

[7] Damian Carrington, ‘Battle over EU ban on ‘veggie burger’ label reaches key vote’ (The Guardian, 2020) <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/16/eu-ban-veggie-burger-label-parliament-vote-meat> accessed 10 December 2020.

[8] Jimmy Pierson, ’EU veggie ‘burger’ ban challenged across Europe’ (ProVeg International, 2020) <https://proveg.com/press-release/eu-veggie-burger-ban-challenged-across-europe/> accessed 10 December 2020.

[9] (n7).

[10] ‘ProVeg welcomes European Parliament vote against ‘veggie burger ban’’ (ProVeg International, 2020) <https://proveg.com/blog/european-parliament-votes-against-veggie-burger-ban/> accessed 12 December 2020.

[11] ‘10 highlights of the plant-based sector during 2020’ (ProVeg International, 2020) <https://proveg.com/blog/10-highlights-of-the-plant-based-sector-during-2020/> accessed 13 December 2020.

[12]  ‘The common agricultural policy at a glance’ (European Commission, 2020) <https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural-policy/cap-glance_en> accessed 15 December 2020.

[13] ‘CAP reform: Europe’s common agricultural policy is broken – let's fix it’ (CAP Reform, 2020) <http://capreform.eu/> accessed 15 December 2020.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Matt Apuzzo and Selam Gebrekidan, ‘Who Keeps Europe’s Farm Billions Flowing? Often, Those Who Benefit’ (The New York Times, 2019) <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/world/europe/eu-farm-subsidy-lobbying.html> accessed 14 December 2020.

[16] WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (adopted 21 May 2003, entered into force 27 February 2005) World Health Assembly 56, art 5(3).