A veggie schnitzel ban is a bad joke

When was the last time you bought a “veggie schnitzel” and then were surprised that there was no meat in it? Or grabbed the “soy sausage” in the supermarket in the firm belief that you were getting something that once belonged to an animal? Probably not for a while, since everything has been around for a few years. You got used to it.

However, the European People’s Party (EPP) still sees a problem here that now requires a strict solution. So that convinced meat eaters don’t accidentally turn to a plant-based alternative, terms such as “sausage”, “schnitzel”, “steak” or “burger” should in future “be reserved exclusively for products that contain meat”. The majority of the EU Parliament approved a corresponding proposal from the EPP on Wednesday.

Tatütata, the language police are here! And of all people, the conservatives, who are so fond of accusing the left of speaking bans and censorship, called them out. Under the guise of consumer protection, they lobby for the good old meat industry – and a bit of culture war at the same time.

The EPP is the largest group in the EU Parliament, and the German representatives of the CDU/CSU also belong to it. The ban proposal was introduced by a French EPP MP with close ties to agriculture. She has already received her anti-veggie push from the Agriculture Committee. Now the EU Parliament has waved it through. Ultimately, the EU states now have to agree.

Five years ago, a similar EU initiative narrowly failed. This time at least the Chancellor seems prepared to play the role of sausage sheriff for Germany. “A sausage is a sausage. Sausage is not vegan,” said Friedrich Merz on Sunday on “Caren Miosga” on ARD. CSU Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer, a trained master butcher, sees it similarly. And sausage influencer Markus Söder, who enjoys denouncing the modern “tofu terror” in beer tents, probably doesn’t even need to be asked.

In fact, the planned veggie name ban is nothing more than a farce. The reason for this is primarily consumer protection – even consumer advocates think it’s nonsense. The European Consumers’ Association said that the majority of consumers are not at all confused by the terms used. And the local Federal Association of Consumer Organizations also believes that such a ban doesn’t help anyone. Anyone who buys a “vegan Seitan schnitzel” knows very well what to expect in terms of taste and which substitute ingredient is included.

It’s not just manufacturers of plant-based alternatives like Rügenwalder Mühle that are opposing the name ban, which would be massively affected. The discounters Lidl and Aldi – ideologically rather unsuspicious – also recently tried to persuade German EU parliamentarians to reason with a joint letter. Vegan schnitzels have long been known to customers, and if the products in the future have to be called “vegan breaded protein slices” or something similarly creative, that would cause even more confusion.

Of course, it is true that when it comes to food there are clear rules about how something can and cannot be called so that consumers are not misled. But elsewhere, consumers have long been trusted not to take every term literally. Word has probably gotten around that there is no salmon in the “salmon ham” from the sausage shelf. And Bavarian Leberkäse – what a linguistic misconception – contains neither liver nor cheese. Conversely, there is the “cheese schnitzel”, which contains cheese but no meat. In German, Schnitzel literally means nothing other than “cut piece”, which is why people still talk about apple schnitzel to this day without getting into problems with the European meat lobby.

In any case, it is quite ironic that the sausage and meat lobby is demanding more transparency for consumers. In other words, the industry that generally does everything in its power to make customers forget that the majority of their products come from factory farming, which is suitable for the worst shocking images. It’s better to print an intact farm world and a few confusing labels on the packaging that suggest something about animal welfare.

In any case, the meat and sausage industry is very familiar with systematic misleading. Until recently, for example, it was still common in Germany to sell “poultry sausage” that actually consisted largely of pork. Today it must at least be marked. But you might not want to know exactly what goes into an animal sausage anyway.

Editor’s note: This comment was updated following the vote in the EU Parliament.