The hamburger may continue to be vegan, but the steak is only meat: the EU's half-hearted decision on meat sounding

The understanding 'protects' the terms beef, veal, pork, poultry, chicken, turkey, duck, goose, lamb, mutton, mutton, goat, leg, tenderloin, sirloin, flank, loin, steak, ribs, shoulder, shank, chop, wing, breast, liver, leg, brisket, rib, T-bone, rump and bacon. "These terms are reserved exclusively for meat products and cannot therefore be used for products that do not contain meat, such as those obtained from cell cultures," a Council note states.
Here is the list in English of the banned names: Beef; Veal; Pork; Poultry; Chicken; Turkey; Duck; Goose; Lamb; Mutton; Ovine; Goat; Drumstick; Tenderloin; Sirloin; Flank; Loin; Ribs; Shoulder; Shank; Chop; Wing; Breast; Thigh; Brisket; Ribeye; T-bone; Rump; Bacon; Steak; Liver.

The co-legislators agreed to give producers three years to run out of stock and adapt to the new rules after entry into force. The technical details of the text, however, still need to be worked out, then the text will go to the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, with the member states' ministers, for a vote and a final vote in the Parliament's plenary.

"It is a success for Italia that sees its agri-food model recognised at European level. And then the EU decided to adopt a rule that already applies in Italia to give our farmers more strength in negotiations. One of them is the provision of a revision clause for contracts lasting more than six months in the supply of raw materials: our farmers will be able to request, in all EU states, the insertion of a renegotiation clause to adjust the sale price of their products to market trends. This is a decisive step to see our farmers' fair value and income recognised,' said the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Francesco Lollobrigida, in a note.

Satisfaction with the decision was expressed by the Vegetable-Based Products Group of Unione Italiana Food, a trade association that is a member of Confindustria: "This decision is a common-sense result that rewards the transparency of vegetable-based products, starting with the current names and their labels. The approved version of the law, while limiting the use of certain terms, does not exclude designations such as 'burger', 'sausage' or 'meatballs' for plant-based products, avoiding both penalising those who have been choosing these products for years and creating confusion among discerning and aware consumers. It has been clearly understood that such designations refer to a product's shape and processing, not its content, and this is certainly a good thing. The plant-based product brands that are members of Unione Italiana Food communicate their products with clear, self-explanatory methods and designations, in full compliance with regulations, with labels that allow consumers to easily find and choose on the shelves, without risk of confusion, the products they want to bring to the table. We will continue to work for innovative, sustainable and tasty food'.

Coldiretti is also satisfied, claiming to have carried out a battle "for the health of citizens and for clarity on what arrives on the tables". According to the association, the agreement aims to avoid 'creating confusion among consumers'. Coldiretti believes that the list of names that cannot be used "will have to be further extended to strengthen the protection of production and correct information".

"This is an important step towards clarity for consumers and the protection of the livestock supply chain," comments Serafino Cremonini, president of Assocarni. We have long been calling for terms such as meat, steak or fillet to be used exclusively for products of animal origin. The work carried out by the Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida goes in the direction of strengthening the transparency of designations and the valorisation of animal products'.

Critical, however, are the associations that see limiting meat consumption as a necessary action for environmental sustainability. The No Confusion coalition - led by the European Vegetarian Union (Evu) and WePlanet and bringing together more than 600 organisations, NGOs and food companies across Europe - expresses concern about what it calls an "unnecessary ban" and calls for a thorough impact assessment of the legal and market implications of the regulation.

At the same time, the group welcomes the fact that the most common descriptive terms familiar to consumers have been retained. "In the current political and social context, it is incomprehensible that our elected representatives continue to devote time and resources to a problem that simply does not exist. This decision contradicts several EU priorities, including competitiveness, innovation, food security, affordability and farmers' income. We are glad that, in part, common sense has prevailed, but the point is that there was no problem to solve,' said Rafael Pinto, senior policy manager of the European Vegetarian Union.

"The ban does not help anyone: neither farmers, nor consumers, nor companies that have bet on innovation. For us in the sector, this has never been just a label issue but a question of competitiveness and the future. Introducing new bureaucratic barriers at a time when the EU should be strengthening its industrial capacity is a choice we cannot afford. Italia has the skills and tradition to become a leading player in the protein transition: it would be a pity to waste this opportunity with regulations that look to the past instead of the future,' says Massimo Santinelli, ceo of Biolab.