ProVeg responds to Belgium halting guidelines on “meaty” names for plant-based products

Fien Louwagie, Communications Manager, ProVeg Belgium, said:

“Whilst the process for developing the guidelines has not officially changed, we believe it is unlikely to get any further before the next election. We hope that, post-election, the new Government will acknowledge the fact that consumers are not confused at all by plant-based foods carrying “meaty” names and will therefore abandon the development of guidelines altogether.”

ProVeg raised concerns last year about the guidelines which could have banned names such as “vegetarian mince meat” and “plant-based chicken pieces” from the Belgian market.

But a survey in the Netherlands for Radar Test has found that 96% of the 22,770 people who took part knew that vegetarian sausages did not contain meat. A survey carried out by the European consumers association, BEUC, found that only one in five consumers think the use of ‘meaty’ names should never be allowed on vegetarian/vegan products (while 1 in 4 do not see any problem at all with using such names, irrespective of whether the products are labelled as vegetarian/vegan or not).