In this May 18, 2019 file photo, a Beyond Burger, a vegan veggie burger, is seen at the Vedang fast food restaurant in the Mall of Berlin in Berlin, Germany. (ADAM BERRY / GETTY IMAGES VIA BLOOMBERG)

Consumers shopping for alternative meats could see veggie "discs" and "plant-based tubes" on European shelves under a proposal to stop plant-based food producers from using more traditional words on packaging.

The vote highlights a clash in the food industry as meat and dairy alternatives gain in popularity. Meat producers argue that plant-based products with traditional-sounding labels mislead shoppers into thinking the substitutes are equal to the real thing. Alternative-protein makers say the proposals would hurt the development of alternative foods and confuse consumers

The European Parliament will this week vote on an amendment that would limit the use of words such as "hamburger" or "sausage" exclusively to labels for real meat. Another proposal calls for further restricting the use of terms like "creamy", or "yoghurt-style" on dairy-free items.

The vote highlights a clash in the food industry as meat and dairy alternatives gain in popularity. Meat producers argue that plant-based products with traditional-sounding labels mislead shoppers into thinking the substitutes are equal to the real thing. Alternative-protein makers like Unilever Plc, Beyond Meat and Oatly AB say the proposals would hurt the development of alternative foods and confuse consumers.

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"That's just pure market protection," Jasmijn de Boo, vice-president of advocacy group ProVeg International, said by phone. "These proposals are only to do with protection of the meat industry."

Alternative-protein demand has boomed in Europe as health, animal welfare and environmental concerns lead consumers to cut back on meat. For example, sales of meat and dairy substitutes saw double-digit growth in recent years, and researcher Euromonitor International estimates that the market for those products has reached US$183 billion.

The vote on the amendments could take place as soon as Tuesday as part of a wider package of EU agricultural legislation that will also need the approval of member governments. The proposals, put forward by the EU Parliament's agriculture committee, face resistance from some parliament members who have tabled their own amendments that would water down the proposed restrictions.

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The amendments are subject to a final confirmation vote on Friday.

If passed, it could lead to strange wording like "meat-free discs" and "plant-based tubes", said Elena Walden, policy manager at the Good Food Institute, which represents the alternative-protein sector. Banning common terms like "veggie burger" may cause confusion and contradict the EU's environmental ambitions, she said.

Meat industry

The traditional meat industry says words like ham, salami and steak are deeply rooted in Europe's cultural heritage, according to an open letter last month from groups including farm lobby Copa-Cogeca.

"The nutritional value simply is not the same," Copa-Cogeca Secretary General Pekka Pesonen said by phone. "We need to make sure that the consumers get proper information according to the categories they consume."

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France has already introduced a ban on meat terms in plant-based foods, while the Netherlands opted to keep them. The EU has prohibited the use of "milk" on labels for plant-based drinks, leading some companies to opt for "mylk" instead.