On October 8, the European Parliament voted in favor of a ban on using so-called “meat words” for plant products.

The argument is that consumers are confused by terms like “plant sausage” or “vegan burger.” But is it less confusing if a soy sausage is to be called a soy cylinder, soy bar or soy roll in the future? Or if a vegetable steak is to be called a plant plate or grill disc?

If you really fear that language will confuse people, it's hard to see how far we should take that logic. Then we should probably also ban words like hotdog that don't have dog in it, or ham salad that doesn't contain lettuce. I don't think consumers will be confused by those products.

Surveys shows that the majority of consumers are not confused by the use of words like sausage or burger for plant products when the products are clearly labeled. Words like sausage and burger describe not only what something is made of, but also how it is used. For example, that a soy sausage is good to put in bread, or that plant mince can be fried into plant steaks.

It feels stupid to have to waste time on this debate. Honestly, it sounds more like a convenient excuse to give the meat and dairy industry a competitive advantage. Animal producers already have a wide range of advantages in the support they can receive, for example, slaughter premiums and support for advertising their products. There is therefore no need to widen the gap between plant and animal products even further with this ban.

There is also a duality in the fact that the EU is in the process of simplifying legislation so that regulation becomes easier for industry and companies. This obviously does not apply to producers of plant products, where they instead choose to make additional regulation. The consequence is that it becomes more expensive for companies, who have to rebrand their products and come up with new names.

I hope that some sense will come into the negotiation process with the Member States, and that the Danish Presidency will stand firm on the right to healthy food in a greener direction. Denmark has already shown the way with the National Plant Action Plan, a concrete example of how to promote innovation, health and sustainability instead of slowing it down.

Because if the EU really wants to take climate, health and consumers' free choice seriously, then we must make it easier, not harder, to choose green.

This debate post was published in klimamonitor on October 10th and was written by Trine Langhede.