Top French court upholds 'veggie burger' label for plant-based products

France's top administrative court Wednesday waded back into a battle over the labelling of veggie burgers, suspending a decree banning plant-based products from being described as meat.

The French government in February issued a decree to ban the term "steak" on the label of vegetarian products from May 1, saying it was reserved for meat alone.

A veggie burger is called a veggie "steak" in French.

The decree listed 21 terms usually used by butchers -- including "escalope", "ham", "filet" and "prime rib" -- that it said were not allowed for plant-based products.

The ruling was a response to a long-standing complaint by the meat industry that terms like "vegetarian ham" or "vegan sausage" were confusing for consumers.

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It was based on a 2020 law before the nation's top administrative court -- called the State Council -- suspended application of the decree in 2022 after a complaint from French companies selling plant-based food.

The State Council on Wednesday suspended a second decree to implement the same labelling law, saying there existed "a serious doubt over the legality of such a ban".

Read more on FRANCE 24 English

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