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No more cordon blur: France prepares to ban vegetarian products from using meaty language
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2023
67 points (94.7% liked)
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I've read the claim that these terms "confuse customers", but has that really happened more than a small handful of times? Do people really buy the clearly named "vegan burger", go home and only then realize that it was not what they wanted? It seems absurd to think that customers are making these mistakes. I don't even recall ever having seen one of those products not making it clear that they are vegetarian or vegan, that's always their selling point.
Plus, it is highly convenient to name these products after what they are meant to replace and which form they share.
This seems like a pointless attack against vegetarian/vegan alternatives, which is unfortunate given that we'd probably want more people to eat (or at least consider eating) those rather than less.
This IS because buyers get confused. I am French. I get confused.
There are products that copy burgers to meet the demand of users willing to eat less meat. You can clearly see what it is and there is no issue with these products.
But there are also products faking meaty products, with vegetables because it’s cheaper. Let’s take this one for example : https://www.auchan.fr/charal-happy-family-viande-hachee-a-cuisiner/pr-C1159092 It’s not written “viande hachée [de boeuf]” (beef meat) on the package, because there is 20% of water and vegetables to be cheaper. However, everything is made to make you think it’s just beef. There is nothing really visible selling it as an alternative to eat less meat. There are just very small lines on the bottom of the package. The title of the online shop is wrong, selling it as “viande hachée” (ground meat). It’s clearly misleading.
There are tons of such examples and that’s why there is this new law in France.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this 80% meat and 20% vegetables and thus not vegetarian? If so, this isn't the same kind of product as an actual vegetarian/vegan patty that is made from vegetable protein only.
I agree with you that the product you linked is labelled confusingly. But it won't ever be called "vegetarian patty" but rather "meat reduced patty".
Edit: You get confused not by vegan burgers (no meat contained) but by non-vegan burgers (less meat contained) and thus by the meat industry, right?
The decree is about the two kind of products. Meat with plants, and 100% plant based food that try to mislead people.
As a consequence, it also concerns plant based food that are clearly branded as vegan food, but it's not the main target.
So there is
Personally, buying 2 or 4 I'd be surprised that these products contain plants. But I fail to see how 1 and 3 would surprise anyone anymore. "Vegan" and "vegetarian" are terms I'd expect any adult to understand as "does not contain meat/anything from an animal". So, calling anything "vegan sausage" clearly communicates that it is "vegan food in sausage shape" or "vegan food that is intended to replace sausage".
No one in their right mind would think of olive oil as something to lubricate some olives...
Some people order turds and put them in their mouth. All of them are dumb, but some of them are so dumb that they didn't even realize they ordered the turd burger.