The text, which prohibits in France the use of words like “steak” or “escalope” for plant-based products, “completely disadvantages French industrialization” compared to abroad, according to companies in the sector.
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They are contesting a decree “ubuesque” And “aberrant”. Several companies manufacturing meat substitute products have filed a summary suspension before the Council of State to challenge the ban on terms such as “steak”, “escalope” or “ham” to designate products based on vegetable proteins , Friday 22 March.
The decree taken by the government on February 26 “compromises the creation of a French sector of plant-based alternatives to meat” And “creates a harmful inequality of competition”, according to the companies taking part in the summary proceedings. The text “only concerns French products”what “completely disadvantages French industrialization, agriculture French”denounces Guillaume Dubois, co-founder of one of the companies that filed the summary judgment.
A first decree taken in June 2022 had already been suspended in summary proceedings by the highest French administrative court. The new text provides for maximum fines of 1,500 euros for a natural person and 7,500 euros for a company that uses a term reserved for animal meat to designate plant substitutes. Within the European Union, the naming of plant products by terms traditionally reserved for animal meat is authorized, except for the plant equivalents of products made from animal milk (yogurt, cheese, etc.).
