There’s a war of words brewing over how companies will be able to brand their products especially in the vegetarian market.
As a feud between meat and vegetarian industries got at it one government has made a decision.
Vegitarian companies in France will no longer be allowed to use terms like “steak” or “ham” to describe their products.
The French government believes that vegetarian companies created confusion by labeling their product as “vegetarian ham.” Now, that sounds about as confusing as warning labels on a shampoo bottle, but the meat industry was not happy.
Should a company use a term like “vegan sausage,” they can be fined up to $8,000.
From Fox News:
The French government issued a decree on Tuesday that bans meat-free products from using meat terms such as “steak,” “ham,” “filet,” “prime rib,” among others, as the government said the terms were reserved for meat products, AFP reported.
The decision comes amid a feud between the meat and vegetarian industries, who are attempting to offer consumers meat-like alternatives while curbing the use of actual meat. However, the government has said terms such as “vegetarian ham” or “vegan sausage” can cause confusion about what is actually inside the product being sold.
According to the report, individuals caught violating the new labeling law face a fine of up to $1,630, or just over $8,000 for companies.
Now, there was a little tidbit added to a report on this by Fox News.
It noted, “Meat products that contain a small amount of plant-based content, which are sold and marketed as meats, can continue to use meaty names, per the decree.”
So the next question is how many meat products are out there (like ground beef) that are adding “plant-based” material.
It won’t be long before things like what we are discussing come across the Atlantic, and it might be time to start checking those labels before you place them in the cart.