This amendment has been strongly pushed by a member of the Parliament who also happens to be a cattle breeder. What an incredible coincidence.
One of his main points is: "We want to protect the consumer, for instance against so-called steaks that are part soy proteins and part actual meat, sold at the same price but way cheaper to produce." However, these are already referred to as "hamburgers" and not "steaks" in our shops, and they are waaaay cheaper to buy. This is a blatant lie, sir. You just do not want vegetarian products to stand next to animal products in supermarkets because you are afraid meat consumption in France may be impacted.
On the one hand- there are already countries that do not allow vegan dairy products to use the names of real dairy products, and there’s something to be said about transparency in food. I feel people have the right to know in plain language what they are eating, it’s wrong to “hide” animal products in vegan foods and by the same token you should know if your animal products are cut with plants. That said- this is just BS riding on an anti vegan popular sentiment. They can treat meat with ammonia and not disclose it, they can use “fillers” in hot dogs, hamburgers, and “processed meat products” and not tell you. They don’t even have to tell you what part of an animal you’re really getting or what percent. They can use meat glue to assemble cuts from scraps, and most of the worlds fish is fake. But suuure... a good place to start is by making sure you can’t sell “tofu steak.” I’d support this as part of a larger comprehensive reform on food labeling, but not on its own.
One of his main points is: "We want to protect the consumer, for instance against so-called steaks that are part soy proteins and part actual meat, sold at the same price but way cheaper to produce." However, these are already referred to as "hamburgers" and not "steaks" in our shops, and they are waaaay cheaper to buy. This is a blatant lie, sir. You just do not want vegetarian products to stand next to animal products in supermarkets because you are afraid meat consumption in France may be impacted.