Soy schnitzel allowed, veggie chicken banned: New rules for the naming of meat substitute products

The EU Parliament has passed new regulations to strengthen the position of farmers in the food chain and secure their incomes. The reason for this was, among other things, the Europe-wide protests of the past few years, in which many farmers criticized their weak negotiating position. The rules are intended to ensure fairer prices, make contracts more transparent and strengthen producer organizations. One part of the regulation concerns the labeling of meat. In the future, meat will be legally defined as “edible parts of animals”. Certain terms such as “steak”, “fillet”, “chop” or “beef” should only be used for meat products and not for laboratory-produced or cell-based alternatives. Common names such as soy schnitzel or veggie burger should still be allowed. According to Parliament, this should ensure more transparency and provide consumers with better orientation. Attention: The voting results shown on the right only reflect the voting behavior of the German MEPs and not that of all 720 MEPs. Overall, the new regulations were approved with 560 votes in favour, 75 against and 25 abstentions. Of the German MEPs, 69 voted for and 16 against. There were five abstentions.

Vote breakdown