French MPs roast 'misleading' soya steaks, vegan sausages

File photo showing prime dry-aged beef room in the lobby of Gallaghers steakhouse in the Manhattan, New York City, July, 2017. (Reuters)

• Vegetable-based products labelled and marketed as meat substitutes have been banned in France
• Food producers will no longer have the right to use "steak", "fillet", "bacon", "sausage" or any meaty term to describe vegetarian substitute

PARIS: Soya steaks, vegan sausages and other vegetable-based products marketed as meat substitutes have been skewered by French lawmakers, who agreed Thursday to ban them for "misleading" consumers.
Under the measure proposed by a farmer MP, food producers will no longer have the right to use "steak", "fillet", "bacon", "sausage" or any other meaty term to describe products that are not partly or wholly composed of meat.
The regulation, which was tabled in the form of an amendment to an agriculture bill, will also apply to vegetarian or vegan products marketed as dairy alternatives.
Refusals to comply with the regulation will lead to fines of up to 300,000 euros ($370,000).