Jasmijn de Boo, Global CEO, ProVeg International, said:
“This is a hugely disappointing and backward development. Consumers are not confused by the use of meaty names for plant-based foods.
“The Government should, instead, be encouraging the consumption of healthy, climate-friendly and animal-friendly food as people across Europe continue to decrease their meat consumption.
“France can play its role by actively supporting the continued growth of the plant-based market through a variety of measures such as subsidies, research funding and public procurement contracts for alternative proteins.
“Leading scientific bodies, such as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), have already made it crystal clear that we must promote the shift to more plant-based diets if we are to have a chance of staying within the internationally agreed 1.5 degree temperature target set in Paris in 2015.”
Published late last year, a policy brief was published detailing eight key measures that seek to make it easier for plant-based foods to thrive on the EU market, including actions related to labeling, the regulation of novel foods and functional ingredients, as well as tax and funding. A press release on the policy brief can be found here.
ProVeg International has already worked through the Smart Protein project to pinpoint ways in which the EU can support the development of alternative proteins.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For media inquiries, email Peter Rixon or Jillian LaBruzzo at [email protected]
About ProVeg International
ProVeg International is a food awareness organization with the mission to replace 50% of animal products globally with plant-based and cultivated foods by 2040. Our vision is a world where everyone chooses delicious and healthy food that is good for all humans, animals, and our planet.
