End of #schnitzelgate: fuss surrounding vegetarian meat is almost resolved
Well, well, phew, the deed is fi-nal-ly done: after a vote in the European Parliament, it emerged last Friday that the majority of MEPs were against a ban on meat names for vegetarian products. In other words: the end of #schnitzelgate is in sight.
#schnitzelgate
The discussion surrounding the names of meat substitutes, known as #schnitzelgate, has been a topic of conversation in various European countries for some time. In Germany, the Minister of Agriculture wanted to ban the names ‘soya schnitzel’ and ‘vegan currywurst’ at the end of 2016. In France, there was talk of a law that would allow producers of vegetarian sausages to be fined up to three hundred thousand euros. Guidelines are also currently being discussed in Belgium.
Neither flesh nor fish
But #schnitzelgate has been going on for longer; in 2012, De Vegetarische Slager was first approached by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) about the naming of its products, after which a few minor changes followed. Minced meat became Gehackt, Tonijn changed to Visvrije Tonyn. All product names were also given the prefix ‘vegetarian’.
In 2017, it happened again, when De Vegetarische Slager was reportedly required by the NVWA to change a large number of product names because they were allegedly misleading. The NVWA later apologised for this; it was supposedly only about a few mentions on the website. Meanwhile, the recurring theme has become a topic of conversation, including on Zondag met Lubach. The programme poked fun at the ban on meat names (hilariously!) and attracted 1.7 million viewers with this episode.
Meat names for vegetarian products
That consumers would be misled—you know, just as we have been misled for years by products claiming to be healthy (…)—seems rather bizarre to me. You would think that people understand they are not buying real meat when it comes in packaging from a vegetarian butcher. Or as Jaap Korteweg, founder of De Vegetarische Slager, puts it himself: “Recognising vegetarian meat is not rocket science. Although it was actually to be expected, it is good to see that the majority of voters in the European Parliament have acknowledged and confirmed this. The vast majority of consumers have no problem with meat names for vegetarian products. Moreover, because we have added ‘vegetarian’ or ‘vegan’ to our product names, consumers know exactly what they are buying. Nobody chooses our products out of confusion.”
No missteak involved
Hugo Verkuil, CEO of De Vegetarische Slager, is also pleased with the result: “It is a gigantic and important step in continuing to accelerate the food revolution. Time and again, it has been shown that consumers are not confused by names such as ‘Vegan Kipstuckjes’ and ‘Vegetarische Burgers’, but actually feel helped by such naming. In addition, our product names make it easier to choose plant-based products more often, which is urgently needed to achieve the global climate targets.”
Agreement will now have to be reached with the member states. The vote in the European Parliament is seen as setting the course; there is a good chance that #schnitzelgate is almost over as a result.
