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Council of State cancels the ban on naming plant-based food products with terms for animal-based foods

France

Jan 30, 2025

The Council of State has annulled the ban on naming food products of vegetable origin with butcher's, delicatessen or fishmonger's terms, such as “steak”, “ham”, “bacon”, etc. The two government decrees were challenged by companies and associations.

Faced with the demand of companies and professional associations, the Council of State has put questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) before ruling on the legality of these decrees. Last October (2024), the CJEU ruled that European legislation addressed the issue entirely at the European level and opposed the possibility for EU Member States to enact national measures regulating or prohibiting the use of common or descriptive names, other than legal names, to describe, market or promote foods containing plant proteins.

According to this CJEU judgment, the Council of State considers that the 2022 and 2024 decrees prohibiting the use of common or descriptive names, consisting of butcher's, deli and fishmonger's terms, to describe, market or promote foods containing vegetable Proteins.

 

 

For further information (in French), click on the Link

Check the full text of the documents (in French), click on the Link / Link

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