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Paul McCartney has joined calls for the EU to reject efforts to ban the use of terms such as \u201csausage\u201d and \u201cburger\u201d for vegetarian foods.<\/p>\n
The former Beatle has joined eight British MPs who have written to the European Commission arguing that a ban approved in October<\/a> by the European parliament would address a nonexistent problem while slowing progress on climate goals.<\/p>\n The new rules would spell the end the use of terms such as steak, burger, sausage or escalope when referring to products made of vegetables or plant-based proteins. Suggested alternatives include the less appetising \u201cdiscs\u201d or \u201ctubes\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n McCartney said: \u201cTo stipulate that burgers and sausages are \u2018plant-based\u2019, \u2018vegetarian\u2019 or \u2018vegan\u2019 should be enough for sensible people to understand what they are eating. This also encourages attitudes which are essential to our health and that of the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n The musician is one of the world\u2019s most prominent advocates of a vegetarian diet. He and his late wife founded the Linda McCartney plant-based foods brand in 1991 and he and their daughters Mary and Stella launched the global \u201cMeat Free Monday\u201d<\/a> campaign to encourage people to eat less meat.<\/p>\n Linda McCartney sausages and burgers<\/a> have been part of a global trend of increased interest in products to replace meat, even if investment has waned since a bubble<\/a> during the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n Yet with the growth of plant-based products has come a backlash, particularly from the politically powerful farming and meat distribution industries, which are worried about the potential effects of lower demand on jobs.<\/p>\n The European parliament voted 355\u2013247 to ban \u201cmeat-related\u201d names from being used on plant-based products. According to Euronews, C\u00e9line Imart, a French member of the centre-right European People\u2019s party and proponent of the ban, told the parliament: \u201cI accept that steak, cutlet or sausage are products from our livestock farms. Full stop. No laboratory substitutes, no plant-based products.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter signed by the McCartney family and the British MPs argued that the EU rules could force Britain into changes<\/a> as well, because the markets and regulation are still so intertwined despite the UK\u2019s departure from the EU.<\/p>\n The EU has a longstanding \u201cgeographical indication\u201d<\/a> system of preventing businesses from trading off the names of products associated with specific places, such as champagne (north-east France), Kalamata olives (southern Greece) or Parma ham (northern Italy). But the attempt to limit the use of generic terms is more controversial.<\/p>\n