When is a vegetarian sausage not a sausage? In France now they’ve brought in legislation to stop veggie foods from using meaty names.
In a move that may enrage foodies, veggies and vegans alike, politicians are going to force food producers in France to rethink how they market their meat-free goods.
Terms such as ‘vegetarian sausages’, ‘vegetarian mince’ and ‘vegan bacon’ will be outlawed.
Trips to your local Carrefour or other French supermarkets will see foods without meat not be able to be labelled as ‘burger’, ‘steak’, ‘sausage’ or ‘fillet’. The ban will apply on dairy alternatives as well, The Independent reports.
MP Jean-Baptiste Moreau put the measure forward based on an argument by the European Court of Justice that soya and tofu products could not be marketed as ‘milk’ or ‘butter’.
One of the notable results of this move will be a departure from the eternally awkward kitchen question of ‘Well how do you milk a bean?’
Mr Moreau, a farmer and member of President Macron’s En Marche! party tweeted:
It is important to fight against false claims: Our products must be designated correctly: the terms #cheese or #steak will be reserved for products of animal origin!
Those refusing to comply with the ban will face fines of up to €300,000 (£264,000).
Reaction to the ban has been mixed from those finding the measure nonsensical to completely pointless.
Simon Burgess tweeted:
I am sure there must have been millions of customers who purchased vegetarian sausages and were completely surprised at the lack of animal content. Thank goodness you have saved them from this terror.
While Ptby16’s reply to the tweet said:
I ordered a beef wellington and was shocked when it failed to keep my feet dry.
Wendy Higgins, of Humane Society International, said:
It’s a shame that instead of embracing vegan and vegetarian food, France has adopted a position of defensive paranoia.
But ultimately it won’t stop the rise of compassionate eating because the delicious, nutritious, Earth-friendly and ethical benefits will prevail regardless of what you call the products.
A restaurant owner in Toronto made news recently by eating a steak in front of a group of vegan demonstrators who protested outside his eatery.
Michael Hunter, who calls himself ‘The Hunter Chef’, threw water over the demonstrators’ pavement chalking, before carving the leg of a deer in the window, and then eating it while looking at them.
The protesters turned up to the restaurant to reach out to Hunter and asked him to ‘Please add vegan steak to the menu’ in chalk on the pavement outside, but were met with ‘taunting’ and a sign which read ‘venison is the new kale’.
Here’s an exclusive video of Michael ‘defiling’ the deer in front of the ‘vegan outreach’:
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Marni Ugar who led the activists and has revealed there is now a longer waiting list for table reservations says she has noticed the restaurant is busier than before their protest went viral.
Speaking to UNILAD, Marni said:
If he wanted us to go away, he could sit down and have dialogue but instead he’s not returning my emails.
How I feel is, it doesn’t actually bother me that business is booming for him because my bottom line is how many animals are dying.
All this talk of food is making me hungry. Time to get a slab of vegetables in a bun.
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Tim Horner is a sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated with a BA Journalism from University College Falmouth before most his colleagues were born. A previous editor of adult mags, he now enjoys bringing the tone down in the viral news sector.