House of Lords finds calling veggie burgers ‘burgers’ is NOT misleading


The House of Lords’ European Union Committee has concluded that calling meat-free products ‘burgers’ is not misleading. In fact, they say that to ban the use of such words may actually cause confusion and be a hindrance to a growing plant-based food market.

Following a consultation, the House of Lords has written to Agriculture minister, Robert Goodwill MP. Their letter reads in part:

“In summary, we are concerned that the amendment would in fact reduce consumer clarity, be a barrier to growth for a burgeoning sector of the food industry, and ultimately make it more challenging for people to reduce the amount of meat in their diet at a time when Government should be seeking to encourage the opposite.”

The proposal in question spawns from the European Union’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, which is a a very pro-animal agriculture committee. They say that to use words like ‘burger’ or ‘sausage’ for meat-free products is misleading because people associate those words with meat despite there being zero evidence for such a claim.

There is a great irony in those with animal farming interests talking about vegan products being ‘misleading’. Let’s start with the names that they give to ‘their’ products: bacon – rather than dead pig, beef – rather than dead cow flesh, milk – rather than bovine mammary secretion. If the farming industry thinks sticking the word ‘vegetarian’ in front of the word ‘sausage’ is misleading, surely completely redefining what a product actually is is genuinely misleading. 

A victory for common sense and reason!

To celebrate, here’s a delicious VEGAN BURGER recipe!