Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
EU

Europe Sticks a Knife Into Vegan Meat (wsj.com) 503

The European Union is trying to put vegetables back in their box. From a report: The trading bloc's agriculture committee wants to ban vegan food products from using terms such as burger and sausage on their labels. The logic is that consumers expect their burgers to be made of pork or beef and will be duped by plant-based pretenders. More likely the region's livestock industry smells danger. Meat-alternative products made by companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods appeal to a growing number of consumers that want to cut down on meat. A high-profile report from the EAT-Lancet Commission warned that red-meat consumption needs to halve by 2050 to avoid serious health and environmental problems. Whether or not consumers are fooled, vegan brands have found success in giving a meaty flavor to their marketing.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Europe Sticks a Knife Into Vegan Meat

Comments Filter:
  • by turp182 ( 1020263 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @02:14PM (#58591474) Journal

    I would consider a "burger" to be beef.

    Impossible Burger is somewhere in the middle regarding naming (using Impossible is interesting, edge case).

    • by lactose99 ( 71132 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @02:16PM (#58591492)

      mmmm.... vegan discs!

    • by Guspaz ( 556486 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @02:25PM (#58591566)

      If you consider "burger" to be beef, but we also allow "chicken burger" to indicate that the burger is made of chicken instead of beef, then why can't we have "veggie burger" or "vegan burger" to indicate the burger is made from vegetables instead of beef?

      If they want to have a vegetarian burger and not call it such, simply labeling the packaging as "burger", then sure, that's misleading advertising. But nobody is going to see "veggie burger" and think it's made of beef.

      • It's a false etymology anyway. It's not ham (the meat) + burger (a disc shaped thing), it comes from Hamburg (the German city).

      • by BringsApples ( 3418089 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @02:37PM (#58591648)

        BURGER
        /brr/
        noun
        short for hamburger.
        a particular variation of a hamburger with additional or substitute ingredients.
        "a veggie burger"

      • by Anonymous Brave Guy ( 457657 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @02:47PM (#58591740)

        If they want to have a vegetarian burger and not call it such, simply labeling the packaging as "burger", then sure, that's misleading advertising. But nobody is going to see "veggie burger" and think it's made of beef.

        Exactly. The terms "veggie burger" and "veggie sausage" have been in widespread use in the UK for decades.

        • by Anonymous Coward

          Exactly. The terms "veggie burger" and "veggie sausage" have been in widespread use in the UK for decades.

          Yes, but the new marketing names are something Orwell would be proud of. "Beyond" burger, as though it's "improved" meat, whereas it is "replaced" meat. Whether that's an improvement or not depends on whether you're an irritating, self-righteous Vegan who makes cyclists self-righteously ignoring traffic regulations and then blaming their victims look positively polite, or an in-your-face reactionary c

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • I still haven't figured out what was in the "Vegetarian Turkey Tetrazzini" box I saw in a health food store many years ago. I have nothing against vegetables, they just shouldn't pretend to be meat!
      • At my local burger places, about 50% of the menu items are beef and the other 50% are others: chicken, a black been burger, etc. So I wouldn' think that "burger" requires beef. Things should be labeled honestly, of course.

        I don't think there is significant risk of consumers being fooled thinking a chicken burger or a Morningstar burger is beef. Where I see the potential for confusion would be something labeled beef that has 20% soy filler or something like that. That needs to be clearly labeled. We see thi

      • by longk ( 2637033 )

        Veggie Burger is pretty clear. But Impossible Burger already much less so. More practically: our supermarket here sells "Hamburgers" and "Angus Burgers", but also "Texas Burgers", "Smokey Burgers", etc. All kinds of variations with their own name, all assumed to be beef.

        What would be the vegan alternatives to those? "Texas Veggie Burgers"? "Vegan Smokey Burgers"? Those names don't sound very catchy. Their creators would probably prefer simpler names, names which omit veggie/vegan for the sake of complicity.

      • by e3m4n ( 947977 )

        How many vegans does it take to eat a hamburger?

        Just one, so long as nobody is looking.

    • by TWX ( 665546 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @02:28PM (#58591576)

      I believe the generic term for the flat shape is patty.

      Hamburger patty. Rice patty. Sausage patty. Quinoa patty.

    • by sabri ( 584428 )

      Impossible Burger is somewhere in the middle regarding naming

      Nope. I was fooled by this at Red Robin. I expected a burger so big that it's impossible to eat. Instead I got vegan bullshit that went straight into the trash.

      Pure consumer deception. That's what it is.

      • by Merk42 ( 1906718 )

        Impossible Burger is somewhere in the middle regarding naming

        Nope. I was fooled by this at Red Robin. I expected a burger so big that it's impossible to eat. Instead I got vegan bullshit that went straight into the trash.

        If it went straight into the trash, then I guess it was impossible to eat. You got what you expected.

    • Shamburger

    • I would consider a "burger" to be beef.

      The term "veggieburger" has been used casually now for too many decades for that argument to stick.

    • And how can you sell a Hamburger without ham?

      Beyond that the phrase itself comes from a town [wikipedia.org] rather than the specific contents.

      Reminds me of how you can't call an artificial diamond a diamond even though it's a diamond. This is actually worse. I've never once seen anyone say you could buy a veggie burger and not know it wasn't beef.
  • Look... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @02:18PM (#58591510)
    If a food wants to identify as a meat, it's a meat. Not all meats are animals you know; just because they were assigned 'plant' at harvest by some farmer doesn't change what they are. Food groups are a social construct, and forcing labels on them is more oppression by the edesiarchy. We need to embrace transfoods.
    • by syn3rg ( 530741 )
      +1 Funny
      What a time to run out of mod points.
    • If a food wants to identify as a meat, it's a meat. Not all meats are animals you know; just because they were assigned 'plant' at harvest by some farmer doesn't change what they are. Food groups are a social construct, and forcing labels on them is more oppression by the edesiarchy. We need to embrace transfoods.

      You sir, win the internet today.

      If a boy can "be" a girl, I think a veggie burger can be a burger.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Pfhorrest ( 545131 )

        Turn it around the the analogy is actually a pretty good explanation of gender as a social construct.

        A veggie burger is a burger inasmuch as it fills the role of a burger. It's not the being made out of meat that makes it suitable for that role, so things not made of meat can still fill that role and so still be a burger.

        Likewise, a transwoman is a woman inasmuch as she fills the role of a woman. It's not the chromosomes or whatever that make her suitable for that role, so people with different chromosomes

    • by longk ( 2637033 )

      I only eat animals that identify as cactuses. This allows me to be not only vegan, but one with a very minimal environmental footprint.

  • LOTS of fear (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @02:18PM (#58591514)

    What this really exposes is that those who raise cows/pigs are terrified of the new wave of products that could largely displace them from the food market. This is a last ditch effort to dissuade prospective buyers.

    • Total BS. No one really thinks these new products are going to replace beef. Total hype.

  • by ebrandsberg ( 75344 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @02:20PM (#58591528)

    Apple Butter
    Peanut Butter
    Coconut Milk
    Almost Milk
    Cashew Cheese

  • Though a "burger" can be ground up anything between two buns (yuck!), at least they should state whether they are real meat or some fake franken creation by a lab. Sad that people think vegetables are somehow healthier than real meat.
  • Misled? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by necro81 ( 917438 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @02:24PM (#58591552) Journal

    The logic is that consumers expect their burgers to be made of pork or beef and will be duped by plant-based pretenders.

    Show of hands: who thinks anyone that purchases a "veggie burger" or "garden burger" is in any way misled to believe that they are purchasing the flesh of an animal?

    Conversely, if someone walks into a market, or restaurant, and requests a "burger" - how likely are they to end up with a non-meat product?

    In other words, is anyone actually being deceived, misled, or otherwise scammed here?

    • Me because the burger joint I use to go to the 'garden burger' was the name of their burger what came with a bunch of vegetables on it.
    • The logic is that consumers expect their burgers to be made of pork or beef and will be duped by plant-based pretenders.

      Show of hands: who thinks anyone that purchases a "veggie burger" or "garden burger" is in any way misled to believe that they are purchasing the flesh of an animal?

      Conversely, if someone walks into a market, or restaurant, and requests a "burger" - how likely are they to end up with a non-meat product?

      In other words, is anyone actually being deceived, misled, or otherwise scammed here?

      Nope, nobody.

      This is just regulatory capture. It's like having to call wrapped cheese slices "pasteurize process cheese food".

    • Yes, these are Europeans who might actually assume their parmesan cheese is actually from Parma [theguardian.com].
    • by aepervius ( 535155 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @06:57PM (#58593564)
      I will take the example of "Tuno" the fake tuna (google image of "tuno fishless"). Everything from the round flat tin can to the presentation scream "this is tuna" only a small indication at the top of the can state "plant based". If you don't pay attention and this is put near a tuna can, you would not be able to tell. Same with burger. You want to make a plant based patty ? Call it something else. Vegetable medaillon for example is used often in germany. Consumer long associated certain name with certain product. Frankly if it is not to mislead the consummer *WHY* use name and form of package which are similar to the meat & fish one ?
  • I'm a vegan. But, the Beyond Meat "meat" tastes nothing like meat and they shove so much annatto and salt in it you'll shit yellow for a week while having a heart attack.
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by TWX ( 665546 )

      I just wish that more vegans would stop trying to bring bad copies of meat-dishes to events when there are entire cultures that don't consume meat and have delicious non-meat food. I'm thinking of a lot of South Asian cooking in particular.

      • by chthon ( 580889 )

        Mediterranean too

  • More hype for the Beyond Meat IPO. It will be bankrupt in 3 years.

  • What if the burger is named "Fake Burger" or "Imitation Burger"? Also how stupid to think people are having some kind of crisis of accidentally buying fake burgers thinking they are real.
  • Europe Sticks a Knife Into Vegan Meat

    Why the hell do vegans need imitation meat products when their entire philosophy revolves around eliminating all animal derived products from their diet? It's like a bunch of cyclists who cycle around in foot pedal powered cars or something, as if they can't make up their minds. If you're going to be a Vegan go the whole nine yards and stop pissing about with imitation meat products.

  • Should only be made of ham. No bread, no beef, no ketchup. Only ham.

  • by Zorro ( 15797 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @02:53PM (#58591782)

    "You want scales with that?"

  • "The logic is that consumers expect their burgers to be made of pork or beef and will be duped by plant-based pretenders"

    Do they not have adjectives in Europe, are adjectives banned from menus? For example, in the USA when I ordered a "black bean burger" from the menu I expected no beef nor pork at all. AII I expected were black beans. The burger met my exception, and was tasty. Not surprising since I like black beans.

    Now if we have "burger" with no adjectives on the menu, sure, I can see how an EU bureaucrat is concerned and must act swiftly and surely to "protect the public", as is their goal in life.

    • "The logic is that consumers expect their burgers to be made of pork or beef and will be duped by plant-based pretenders"

      Do they not have adjectives in Europe, are adjectives banned from menus?

      It's more of an avaialble space on menus. In Germany, it would be callled a "nichtmadenvondasbeefproductionsaondervonvegtablegemacht burger" France has it easier, it's simply a Merde Burger. The UK will call it whatever they please, thank you, we don't need no EU rules here in the empire.

  • by Misagon ( 1135 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @02:56PM (#58591814)

    Discussing this in English is a bit moot, considering that these rules would not even be enforced in English after Brexit.

    Each country has its own language and traditions concerning how the translation for "burger" and "hamburger" is being used, and I think that instead of the EU deciding, the people in each country should decide for themselves how they should use their own words, through their own authorities.

    Over here in Sweden, a "Hamburger" (translated) is 100% beef and nothing else.
    Meanwhile, a "Burger" can be anything but is usually preceded with a word: e.g. "chicken burger".
    Vegetarian burgers are usually labelled with "Vegetarian", "Ovo-vegetarian" or "Vegan" anyway so that vegetarians/vegans can be sure of what they get.
    Meanwhile, we also have "Hamburger Meat" (translated), which is smoked horse meat -- with etymological origin older than the American hamburger.
    I see no problem with this scheme at all. Anyone from outside trying to impose their idea different scheme on us should eff off!

  • Glad (?) to see our European cousins choosing the Corporate American led path of lazy, foolishness, victimization. How about reading the actual ingredients. Too lazy to read the label, sorry but ' you get you what get and you don't get upset'.

    For myself, I want accurate food labeling so I can make my own decision. In addition to standard nutrition info, I want to see organic, GMO, antibiotics used, wild/farmed, allergy info, and country of origin (sorry China). I know that organic isn't healthier, but

  • by bunyip ( 17018 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @03:13PM (#58591954)

    Mince-meat pies are made from fruit and don't have any "animal meat" in them at all. They're a Christmas tradition in the UK.

    Well, I guess after Brexit, this won't matter much anyway...

    A.

    • Originally mincedmeat contained meat but over time they have gotten cheaper, and expectation have changed, so that instead of containing at least suet they are now oil or butter.
  • Vegan meat isn't meat, advertising it as such is inherently fraudulent. I'm not opposed to selling vegetarian food (my wife is a vegetarian), but there's no reason to be deceptive about it.

    Ordered a "zoo-burger" once that was represented as a hamburger. I threw up on the spot right in the middle of the cafeteria after eating a single bite. The clerk actually had the audacity to claim that lying to me about the food was okay since it was vegan. I raised a fuss as they refused to even refund my money. I got t

  • There is so much other bull shit in Beef Hamburgers that are they really beef any more? I mean, unless you raise the animal yourself and butcher it. What is available on the open market that really is 100 beef?

    Think about it. Even if it is 100 percent beef advertised. That beef has been drugged up to produce fatter cows that allows for more meet to be butchered.

    And yes, I eat the crap and love it. Also have had some really good veggie burgers, but nothing I go out of my way for.

    Solution. Make you
  • by PPH ( 736903 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @03:22PM (#58592040)

    Made from real vegans? Or is there some soy filler in there?

    Fortunately, Britain will not be going along with this nonsense. Because knives are illegal.

  • The logic is that consumers expect their burgers to be made of pork or beef and will be duped by plant-based pretenders.

    Prefixing "burger or "sausage" with "vegan" tells me that it's not meat.

  • by Al Al Cool J ( 234559 ) on Tuesday May 14, 2019 @03:43PM (#58592212)

    Seems hypocritical, considering the meat industry gave us terms like sweetbread and head cheese.

  • Enjoy your Vurger and Vausages instead.

"You know, we've won awards for this crap." -- David Letterman

Working...