The European Union could soon ban “vegan sausage rolls” — in favor of plant-based “tubes.”
Meat-free products in Northern Ireland will have to be renamed if the EU votes in favor of banning plant-based food from being sold with “meaty terms.”
The amendment would restrict the use of seven “meaty” terms, including “steak,” “escalope,” “sausage,” “burger,” “hamburger,” “egg yolk” and “egg white.”
Products will have to be sold under descriptive new terms, such as “tubes” or “discs.”
“A steak is made of meat — full stop. Using these names only for real meat keeps labels honest, protects farmers and preserves Europe’s culinary traditions,” Céline Imart, the center-right lead MEP who put forward the amendment, said.
“A steak, an escalope or a sausage are products from our livestock farms, period. No laboratory substitutes, no plant-based products,” Imart added.
The EU ruling would apply to Northern Ireland thanks to the Windsor Framework, which says Northern Ireland must follow some of the rules that Britain does not — including food labeling.
Greggs’ products will escape the possible order due to a loophole in the Brexit treaty, which allows certain products to be made in Britain and sold in their original name after being shipped to Northern Ireland.
These products cross the Irish Sea border using the “green lane,” so they are not at risk of crossing into Ireland.
The treaty created the Irish Sea border, keeping the land border with the Republic of Ireland invisible after Brexit.
But some politicians in Northern Ireland have pushed back, saying the vote is an example of how the country is forced to follow rules it never supported.
“Once again, Northern Ireland finds itself bound by rules it did not make, subject to decisions in which no Northern Ireland representative has a vote,” Timothy Gaston, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the Traditional Unionist Voice, told The Telegraph.
“While the European Parliament debates what a sausage roll can be called, businesses here must brace for yet another layer of regulation that applies in Belfast but not in Birmingham.”
The ban is backed by a majority of conservative EU lawmakers as well as some liberal members to appeal to farmers.
“This is a cultural war, and this is a cultural war that has been started by the far-right,” Thomas Waitz, an Austrian Green MEP, said.
The vote is set to be held later today.
If it passes, the Northern Ireland Assembly can delay the application of the law with the “Stormont brake,” which is designed to block the application of a rule if it has a “significant impact specific to everyday life in Northern Ireland in a way that is liable to persist” — at least temporarily.
