Veggie burgers are safe, but green groups warn debate has distracted from broader Common Agricultural Policy proposals set to be voted on this afternoon that they warn could devastate small farmers and nature
Veggie burgers can still be called veggie burgers in the EU, after European lawmakers this afternoon voted down a proposal that would have banned plant-based products being labelled as burgers, steaks or sausages.
The European Parliament voted overwhelming against the proposed rule this morning, meaning that veggie products can still be named after words that have historically been used for meat.
"Reason prevalied and climate sinners lost," Danish MEP Nikolaj Villumsen tweeted. "It's worth celebrating with a veggie burger."
However, plant-based spreads were not as lucky in today's vote, with MEPs approving an accompanying amendment that places further restrictions on plant-based dairy labels.
While terms like "vegan butter" and "oat milk" have been banned for several years in the EU, the new rule will prohibit manufacturers from comparing plant-based foods to dairy with words such as "style" and "like" anywhere on the packaging.
The proposed restrictions on dairy alternatives will now pass to the third and final stage of the EU legislative process, where MEPs, the European Commission, and national agriculture ministers will debate the rule in a formal trilogue meeting.
The vote on the naming of plant-based foods forms one small part of an extensive package of policy measures currently being debated by EU lawmakers that will form the bloc's new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and green groups have warned the highly-publicised debate has distracted MEPs and media attention away from far more environmentally harmful elements of the proposals.
MEPs have faced mounting pressure from NGOs and climate activists to vote down the new CAP, which Greenpeace has described as "a death sentence for small farms and nature". Parliament will vote this afternoon to approve or reject the entire CAP, after a large portion of proposed reforms were rejected earlier this week.
Climate change activist Greta Thunberg slammed the media earlier this week for zeroing in on the naming debate and paying too little heed to the broader issues at play.
"While media was reporting on ‘names of vegan hot dogs' the EU parliament signed away €387bn to a new agricultural policy that basically means surrender on climate & environment," she tweeted. "No awareness means no pressure and accountability so the outcome is no surprise. They just don't care."
Echoing Thunberg, Greenpeace agriculture policy director Marco Contiero said: "It's disgraceful that the industrial farming lobby isn't content with cornering billions in subsidies for destructive factory farming. They're now muddying the debate on farming reform with a pointless vote on food names - it's pathetic that the Parliament wouldn't even stand up to the industrial agriculture lobbyists on this."
He added: "The votes won't change the fact that more and more people are eating more vegetables and switching to meat and dairy alternatives, for the sake of their health and the environment, and will continue to call dairy-free products 'yoghurt' and 'cheese' anyway."