French MPs have voted to ban producers of vegetarian meat substitutes from using words such as steak, bacon or sausage to describe their products if they are are not partly or wholly composed of meat. Vegetable-based products such as soya steaks or vegetarian sausages marketed as meat substitutes are to be banned for "misleading" consumers.

The measure, approved on Thursday, was proposed by MP Jean-Baptiste Moreau, who argued that products such as soya steaks, vegan sausages and other vegetarian alternatives were “misleading” for consumers. Moreau based his argument on a 2017 judgment by the European court of justice, that ruled that soya and tofu products could not be marketed as milk or butter.

“It is important to combat false claims. Our products must be designated correctly: the terms of cheese or steak will be reserved for products of animal origin,” tweeted Moreau, a farmer and member of president Emmanuel Macron’s political movement La République En Marche. 

The regulation, which was tabled in the form of an amendment to an agriculture bill, will also apply to vegetarian or vegan products marketed as dairy alternatives. Refusals to comply with the regulation will lead to fines of up to €300,000 (£260,000).