Mike Pearson explains how change could be coming to food labels in France. France is the European Union’s largest ag producer.

Over the last decade, many alternative meat products have been released. The attempt was to make it as close to tasting like meat as possible.

A new proposal was introduced in early August to ban certain meat words from being used in plant-based marketing. It’s the latest in what is called label wars between planted based foods and conventional meat.

The idea was to stop misleading claims about alternative meat products.

Over the last decade, many alternative meat products have been released. The attempt was to make it as close to tasting like meat as possible.

The decree would ban 21 words from being on labels for alternative plant products including steak, butcher, spareribs or ham.

However, the words, burger, sausage or bacon could be used on labels if the products have 6 percent of meat in the product.

A decree was released in 2022 but it was ruled too vague.

This year’s decree only applies to products made in France and sold in France. Products not from France are free from the label mandate.

The decree issued last week goes into publication in 3 months but could could face up to a year delay.

Farm Progress America is a daily look at key issues in agriculture. It is produced and presented by Mike Pearson, a farm broadcaster and host of This Week in Agribusiness.