Food News

From 19 August 2029, terms such as ‘fillet’ or ‘steak’ will no longer be permitted for vegan substitute products.

An amendment to the EU Regulation (EU Reg. 1308/2013) provides legal protection for 32 designations relating to meat products. The term ‘meat’ may now only be used for ‘edible parts of farm animals’. Designations referring to specific animals, such as ‘beef’, ‘veal’ etc., are also prohibited. This also applies to the terms “fillet”, “steak” and “cutlet”, as well as “roast beef”, “wing”, “bacon” and “pork knuckle”. The regulation stipulates that the protected designations are not permitted for meat substitutes.With the implementation of the regulation, the previous non-legally binding “Guidelines for vegan and vegetarian foods resembling foods of animal origin” issued by the German Food Codex Commission will lose their significance in terms of classification.

The terms “milk”, “butter”, “yoghurt” and “cheese”, as well as those relating to spirits, are already legally protected. “Vegan butter”. Consequently, a “vegan egg liqueur” is also not permitted, and even imaginative neologisms such as “Veierlikör” contravene the labelling rules.

YOUR PLUS: If you are unsure how vegan or vegetarian products may be named in a legally compliant manner in future, you should have your marketing team’s creative suggestions checked in advance. The food chemists at the AGROLAB GROUP will also provide you with the relevant guidance as part of their marketability assessments.

Author: Dr Frank Mörsberger, AGROLAB GROUP