Vegan sausages and burgers might have to be called something else

Vegan and vegetarian burgers have been rising in popularity in recent years and caused quite the stir in the process. The main point of contention is the name 'burger' because a lot of people believe it might be misleading. That's the main reason why many in the meat industry have been advocating for a name change. As we speak, the EU commission is voting on a new bill and, should the new law come to pass, vegetarian and vegan options will have to be rebranded to avoid terms such as 'sausage' and 'burger', while using terms like 'veggie tubes' or 'veggie disks' instead.

Photo by Deryn Macey on Unsplash

Photo by Deryn Macey on Unsplash

Meanwhile ProVeg, an international food awareness organization, has launched a petition to stop the name change, which has since garnered over 100,000 signatures. On the opposite side of the argument we find Nick Allen, member of the British Meat Processors Association, who has told BBC Radio 4 that the association wholeheartedly supports the name change. "We are increasingly concerned about the labelling of plant based products and the trend towards using terms that are synonymous with meat," Mr Allen said, "We get even more concerned when we see products on shelves labelled 'Meat free meatballs'. Our main point would be that products are being presented as meat substitutes and people may well buy them on the assumption that they are giving the same nutritious benefits that they would get from eating meat".

Allen also said that they are "reluctant to encourage yet more legislation [but] we do think it is time this was looked at closely as it is misleading the consumer and playing tricks on them. It should be made very clear that they are vegetarian products".

Jasmijn de Boo, vice president of ProVeg International, believes the name should be changed because "plant-based meat alternatives have been on the market for at least a century in Europe - and for far longer in other parts of the world. They have long been marketed as veggie sausages and veggie burgers, and this has never been a problem". She also added that these terms "serve an important function in communicating characteristics that consumers are looking for at point of purchase, especially in terms of taste and texture".

They both have a point, to a point, but I've sometimes tried meatless meat and cheeseless cheese and I remember thinking, "this is actually pretty good... but it tastes nothing like meat/cheese". That's my 2 cents.

What say you? Should these name remain the same or should they opt for different names? Leet me know what you think in the comments.