THIS WEEK the House of Lords will host a discussion of the European Parliament's proposal to ban the use of words like ‘sausage’ and ‘burger’ to describe foods that don’t contain meat.

Farmers across Europe have long argued that using names that usually apply to meat-based products misleads consumers about the nature and nutritional value of the food they are purchasing.

That is the point to be considered by the House of Lords Energy and Environment committee this Wednesday (June 19) – does the use of terms such as ‘burger’ and ‘sausage’ to describe vegetarian products actually confuse and mislead consumers, or are they well aware of that they are buying vegetarian content, and just look for such words as a descriptor of product shape?

Of course, with an eye on Brexit, the UK may not be covered by EU law by the time any restriction on meat-related descriptions takes force, so the House of Lords will be considering whether it would be beneficial for the UK to follow suit, and what changes, additions or exceptions might improve a UK-only version of the proposal,

Lord Teverson, chair of the Sub-Committee, said: “As more people move towards a plant-based diet, the question of how we identify and describe vegetarian and vegan food is increasingly relevant. In holding this roundtable we’re intending to test the merits of this proposal, and find out what it would mean for consumers and for the food industry.”

Participants in the roundtable discussion will include:

• Ruth Edge of the National Farmers’ Union England;

• Laura Sears, of the Vegetarian Society;

• Chef Jackie Kearney;

• Mark Banahan of the Vegan Society;

• Geoff Bryant, of Quorn Foods.

The evidence session is open to the public, and will begin at 10:30am on June 19 in Committee room 2 of the House of Lords. The session can also be watched live on Parliamentlive.tv