Battle over EU ban on ‘veggie burger’ label reaches key vote
theguardian.com
Battle over EU ban on ‘veggie burger’ label reaches key vote
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Re: Battle over EU ban on ‘veggie burger’ label reaches key vote
#2I have to wonder what we could accomplish as a species if we weren't having these kinds of ridiculous arguments....
Burger and sausage do not imply "meat" to me, simply a particular shape or arrangement of the food item.
Re: Battle over EU ban on ‘veggie burger’ label reaches key vote
#3I wonder if they ever ate something like bacons chips/crisps or chips/crisps with cheese flavour. Has been around forever and nobody complained.
Re: Battle over EU ban on ‘veggie burger’ label reaches key vote
#4I'm really surprised this has gone this far, it was ridiculous when it was first proposed and it's ridiculous now. Just require people to be explicit about what the burger/sausage/cheese-like thing is made of and that's all, surely?
I suspect the cultural situation around food in other EU states might present a different picture though. France clearly has some powerful forces feeling very strongly about this, but I do think MEPs should reject any argument that comes purely from the meat industry's commercial demands.
Re: Battle over EU ban on ‘veggie burger’ label reaches key vote
#5I would have guessed this was in a very strong sense a linguistic issue. Does a composition "veggie burger" present an oxymoron, thus forcing the consuner to either interpret the composition as being one or the other? Or does the adjective merely make a more specific case? A compiled list of similar compositions would in my opinion help the counter argument.
The line of reasoning of the agricultural lobby about "confused consumers" feels to me like an insult to public's intelligence.
Their arguments about protecting farmers is valid and needs to be considered.
Re: Battle over EU ban on ‘veggie burger’ label reaches key vote
#6I would have guessed this was in a very strong sense a linguistic issue. Does a composition "veggie burger" present an oxymoron, thus forcing the consuner to either interpret the composition as being one or the other? Or does the adjective merely make a more specific case? A compiled list of similar compositions would in my opinion help the counter argument. The line of reasoning of the agricultural lobby about "conf…
I interpret it as an adjective; there are already a variety of alternative burgers such as chicken or turkey burgers. They're typically meat, but I guess I've never assumed they had to be; just that most plant-based sandwiches are closer to other things. Interestingly, salmon in patty form is usually referred to as a salmon patty even after being cooked (at least around me).
I don't find it at all confusing. A veggie burger is a patty made of veggies, just like a turkey burger is a patty made of turkey. The only case where I think it might be confusing is if the patty is made out of something that could plausibly also be blended into the meat of a regular burger. If the box said "jalapeno burger" and inside was veggie burgers with jalapenos in them, I'd feel mislead.
Re: Battle over EU ban on ‘veggie burger’ label reaches key vote
#7I'm really surprised this has gone this far, it was ridiculous when it was first proposed and it's ridiculous now. Just require people to be explicit about what the burger/sausage/cheese-like thing is made of and that's all, surely? I suspect the cultural situation around food in other EU states might present a different picture though. France clearly has some powerful forces feeling very strongly about this, but I d…
>Just require people to be explicit about what the burger/sausage/cheese-like thing is made of and that's all, surely?
The problem is while some products use packaging that clearly indicates it is non-meat based, there is plenty of packaging that does not. I nearly bought some plant-based food recently because it was looked similar to meat-based versions of the same thing, and I only happened to notice it was "chicken-style" (the "style" being in very small lettering and so offset from the word chicken that it was practically detached) when I took a second look to check the cooking instructions. It wouldn't have hurt me to eat it, but I would have been disappointed to only find out when I went to start cooking. I live with a vegetarian, and have tried a number of meat alternatives and not been impressed by any of them so far - while some are ok as their own product, nothing I have tried was a good substitute for meat.
I understand that some companies want to market their products as "indistinguishable from meat", such as appealing to people who became vegetarians for ethical reasons but still crave the taste of meat, but I am a firm believer that packaging for food and other important items should follow the principle of least astonishment, and that using terms that have historically referred to meat products to market non-meat products in a way that can mislead or confuse consumers is unethical and should be regulated.