Let It Stand: Paul McCartney Calls On EU to Drop Ban on Plant-Based ‘Steaks’.

The iconic artist has lent his support for the EU to dismiss a move to outlaw the use of words such as “sausage” and “burger” for meat-free alternatives.

A Divisive Decision

The music icon has aligned with eight UK parliamentarians who have petitioned the European Commission, stating that a ban passed in October by the European parliament would tackle a nonexistent problem while slowing progress on environmental targets.

The legislation would spell the end for the use of labels such as steak, burger, sausage or escalope when marketing products based on meat-free ingredients. Proposed replacements include the less appetising “discs” or “cylinders”.

“To stipulate that burgers and sausages are ‘vegetarian’ should be adequate for sensible people to grasp what they are eating. This also fosters behaviors which are crucial to our well-being and that of the environment,” commented the musician.

A Prominent Campaigner

Sir Paul is one of the world’s most prominent proponents of a plant-based diet. Together with his deceased spouse established the Linda McCartney plant-based foods brand in 1991, and he and their daughters Stella and Mary initiated the global “Meat Free Monday” initiative to encourage people to eat less meat.

Linda McCartney sausages and burgers have been integral to a global movement of increased interest in products to replace meat, even if funding has diminished since a bubble during the coronavirus pandemic.

Farming Opposition

But as popularity has increased of meat alternatives has come a counter-movement, especially from the lobbying agricultural and meat processing industries, which are concerned about the potential effects of reduced consumption on employment.

The European Parliament decided 355–247 to outlaw “meat-related” names from being used on plant-based products. According to reports, one French MEP, a member of the centre-right European People’s party, stated to the parliament: “I accept that steak, cutlet or sausage are products from our livestock farms. Full stop. No laboratory substitutes, no plant-based products.”

Wider Consequences

The correspondence endorsed by the McCartney family and the British MPs suggested that the EU rules might compel Britain into alterations as well, because the markets and regulation are still so interconnected notwithstanding the UK’s departure from the EU.

The EU has a long-established “protected designation of origin” system for blocking businesses from benefiting from the names of products associated with certain locales, such as sparkling wine from France, Greek olives or Italian cured ham. But the effort to curb the use of everyday language is much more debated.

The Issue with Meanings

A number of the words that would be banned have fluid interpretations. For instance, dictionaries define a sausage firstly in relation to meat but secondly as “an object formed like a sausage”. Even more problematically, the main description of “burger” is often given as a “flat round mass of chopped animal or plant matter”.

The eight MP signatories comprise former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and ex- Green party co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay.