Beatles legend Paul McCartney hits out at EU’s proposed ban on ‘veggie burger’ and ‘vegan sausage’

‘People will understand what they are eating’

83-year-old McCartney became a vegetarian in 1975 along with his late wife Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998.

Linda had also launched her own best-selling chain of meat-free alternatives in 1991.

“To stipulate that burgers and sausages are “plant-based’, “vegetarian’, or “vegan” should be enough for sensible people to understand what they are eating,” McCartney told The Times of London.

“This also encourages attitudes essential to our health and that of the planet,” he added.

British MPs write to European commissioners

The ban, if implemented, will only affect the EU, which the UK is no longer a part of.

Despite this, a group of British MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn, in a letter to European commissioners, have called for the proposed ban to be scrapped.

The proposed EU ban “could increase confusion” and “undermine economic growth, sustainability goals, and the EU’s own simplification agenda,” the eight British MPs wrote in their letter.

They also cite research, stating that European shoppers “overwhelmingly understand and support current naming conventions” such as “veggie burger.”

What is the EU proposal

The EU vote, which was passed 355-247, was initiated by Celine Imart, a French member of the European Parliament.

‘A steak, an escalope or a sausage are products from our livestock, not laboratory art nor plant products,” Imart told Politico.

‘There is a need for transparency and clarity for the consumer and recognition for the work of our farmers.’

More food labels in EU

According to the BBC, the EU proposal includes other labels like, “egg yolk”, “egg white” and “escalope” that would be restricted to products that contain meat.

The EU has already defined dairy items as products coming from the “normal mammary secretion”. This includes products like milk, yogurt and cheese.

Oat milk, for instance, is called an oat drink on European shelves.