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I. Introduction
The number of vegans, vegetarians and people who turn to more plant-based lifestyles is steadily increasing. While there are currently no EU-wide comparable and reliable data on nutritional behaviour, national inquiries do give a good indication. In Germany, for instance, there are roughly 7.8 million vegetarians (around 10 per cent of the population) and 1.3 million vegans (around 1.6 per cent) (YouGov2, Skopos3). Furthermore, there is an even larger number of people who are making the conscious decision to eat less meat or other animal products or would like to reduce their consumption in the future.
The market for vegetarian products is developing accordingly. These have grown out of their niches and have made it onto supermarket shelves throughout Europe. As the market is expanding, a growing number of companies offers a steadily diversifying range of products that caters to the demand for “veggie” food and are labelled correspondingly. It is unclear, however, what precisely the terms “vegan” and “vegetarian” stand for. Furthermore, the use of certain sales denominations has been challenged by some stakeholders. Unclear legal provisions lead to confusion on the part of producers and retailers as well as on the part of consumers, all of which rely on clear and transparent rules. This article explores these two food labelling issues from the perspective of the European Vegetarian Union (EVU) and gives insights into the legal and political situation.
The EVU is the voice of the growing number of Europeans choosing plant-based products over animal-based nutrition. As an umbrella organisation of more than 30 European vegetarian organisations, the EVU puts vegetarian issues on the European political agenda.
II. Defining “Vegan” and “Vegetarian”
Surprisingly, clear and expressly formulated, legally binding guidelines which state what constitutes vegan and vegetarian food for the purpose of food labelling do not exist, neither at European Union level nor at the level of the EU member states. Generally speaking, companies manufacturing and selling vegetarian products have to stick to existing general commercial law prohibiting misleading information in their communication, from food packaging to advertisement. The broad idea of vegetarian and vegan food is uncontested: The latter must not contain any animal product. For the former, eggs, dairy products and honey are allowed. Therefore,...