Vegetarian barbecues over the weekend may have been sizzling with meat-free burgers and sausages - but not for long, according to campaigners. The Vegan Society has called attention to what it says are unlawful EU proposals to require such products to be renamed 'discs' and tubes', detecting the hand of an embattled meat industry behind the measure. 

In a 14-page letter to European Parliament officials, the society states that the proposed ban contravenes EU consumers’ rights to be informed and denies the vegan community the benefits offered by EU law on clear labelling.

'These proposals have little to do with consumer protection and instead are motivated by economic concerns of the meat industry,' George Gill, Vegan Society chief executive said. 

According to the letter, 'alternative vocabulary put forward such as "vegetable disc" does not constitute clear food labelling under EU consumer law because such terms do not describe or facilitate ease of interpretation, nor make it easy to perceive the food item in question.'

In the 1980s TV sitcom Yes Prime Minister, a row with the EU over the 'British banger' catapults Jim Hacker MP into Number Ten. Obiter is reluctant to make any political predictions in the current climate but is watching out for sightings of MPs snacking on Greggs' celebrated vegan sausage rolls. 

 

 

 

 

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