Let It Stand: The Ex-Beatle Calls On EU to Drop Prohibition on Plant-Based ‘Steaks’.

The famous musician has added his voice for the European Union to turn down efforts to ban the use of terms such as “sausage” and “patty” for vegetarian foods.

A Contentious Ruling

Sir Paul has aligned with eight members of parliament who have written to the European Commission, arguing that a ban approved in October by the EU parliament would solve a problem that doesn't exist while slowing progress on climate goals.

The new rules would spell the end for the use of labels such as cutlet, patty, banger or fillet when referring to products made of plants or alternative proteins. Suggested alternatives include the less mouth-watering “discs” or “tubes”.

“To require that burgers and sausages are ‘vegan’ should be sufficient for reasonable consumers to comprehend what they are eating. This also promotes attitudes which are essential to our well-being and that of the planet,” stated McCartney.

A Prominent Campaigner

McCartney is one of the world’s most prominent advocates of a meat-free lifestyle. Alongside his wife Linda launched the Linda McCartney vegetarian products range in 1991, and he and their daughters Stella and Mary launched the global “Monday Without Meat” campaign to persuade people to reduce meat consumption.

These meat-free alternatives have been integral to a global shift of rising demand in products to substitute for meat, despite the fact that investment has declined since a boom during the global pandemic.

Political Pressure

Yet with the growth of meat alternatives has come a backlash, especially from the influential farming and meat distribution industries, which are worried about the potential effects of falling sales on employment.

The EU Parliament ruled 355–247 to forbid “meat-associated” names from being used on plant-based products. According to reports, a proponent of the ban, a representative of the conservative European People’s party, stated to the parliament: “I believe that these traditional terms are products from our livestock farms. Full stop. No laboratory substitutes, no vegetarian versions.”

Broader Implications

The petition backed by the McCartney family and the UK politicians argued that the EU rules might compel Britain into similar measures as well, because the economic and legal frameworks are still so intertwined despite the UK’s departure from the EU.

The EU has a longstanding “geographical indication” system for stopping businesses from trading off the titles of products associated with certain locales, such as sparkling wine from France, Greek olives or Italian cured ham. But the attempt to limit the use of common words is much more debated.

The Issue with Meanings

A number of the terms that would be proscribed have malleable meanings. As an illustration, reference books define a sausage primarily in relation to meat but secondly as “an object shaped like a sausage”. Even more problematically, the main description of “burger” is often given as a “flat round mass of ground meat or plants”.

The eight parliamentary supporters are former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former Green party leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay.