After the State Council’s decision, “vegetable steak” still has a bright future on store shelves.

Ham can continue to be “vegetable” and sausage can continue to be “vegan”. The State Council on Wednesday again urgently suspended the government decree of late February, which was supposed to come into force on May 1. It prohibited manufacturers of plant-based meat alternatives from using words that are part of the meat industry’s vocabulary, such as fillet, tenderloin, steak, entrecote, flank steak, escalope, ham, etc., or terms “relating to species and group names ” animal species, morphology and anatomy of animals.”

In response to long-standing requests from livestock sector stakeholders who believe that terms such as “vegetable steak” may cause confusion in the minds of consumers, the government issued the first decree in this regard in June 2022. Palais Royal Institute. To calm the anger of farmers, a similar order was issued during the last agricultural exhibition.

The Ministry of Agriculture said that it took into account the comments of the State Council when preparing the new text, without waiting for the results of the procedure in the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). In particular, it added two lists specifying terms that should be reserved for animal products or products containing very little vegetable protein, such as filet, escalope, andouille or chorizo.

Sometimes old names

But on this day, April 10, the answer is identical. “The summary trial judge believes that there are serious doubts about the legality of this ban. This doubt has already led the Council of State to question the CJEU in July 2023, as part of an appeal against the first decree on the same topic,” states the Council of State, which was seized by six companies. concerned,

“Pending a response from the CJEU, the judge of the Council of State suspends the application of the new decree, since it will also cause serious and direct harm to the interests of producers who sell exclusively this type of product,” continues the Institute of the House of Representatives. -Royal.

VIDEO. Should we choose plant-based “steaks”?

“A ban from May 1 would cause serious and immediate damage to the interests of companies that sell these products under names that are sometimes used for a long time, ingrained in the minds of consumers and appearing on restaurant menus,” the State Council judge said. It also notes that “products in other European countries may continue to use these names to market their products in France.”