Plans abandoned five years ago have resurfaced in Brussels, with a messy series of proposals to ban the use of everyday language to describe plant-based meat.
Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida has told Parliament the government is talking to plant-based meat companies to hear their concerns about a ban on using ‘meaty’ terms.
Although it was rejected at the EU level in 2020, attempts to restrict the language used by producers to describe their plant-based meat products have continued to rumble on in a handful of national contexts. However, recent decisions in France and Belgium are cause for optimism.
The newly formed Italian Complementary Protein Alliance, representing a cross-section of stakeholders with interests in Italy’s agri-food landscape, was unable to take part in the hearings as they only became public after the deadline for requesting participation had passed.
All’Alleanza Italiana per le Proteine Complementari, recentemente costituita, non è stato possibile prendere parte alle audizioni poiché sono diventate pubbliche solo quando il termine per poter partecipare era scaduto.
GFI Europe has joined other food sustainability NGOs to call on the Belgian government to drop plans to ban “meaty” names for plant-based products.
2021 was a breakthrough year for plant-based foods, cultivated meat and fermentation.
EU leaders have dropped Amendment 171 plans to impose new restrictions on plant-based dairy products, which could have banned them from displaying allergen information, being sold in cartons and using images of their own products.
A coalition of 21 environmental, consumer and animal welfare groups has called on the European Commission and EU member states to reject Amendment 171 – an “unprecedented” ban on plant-based dairy products displaying allergen information, being sold in cartons and using images of their own products.
