The Czech government has abandoned a proposed amendment that would have restricted the use of terms such as “soy sausage” and “mushroom schnitzel”.
It comes after the planned changes faced widespread backlash, as businesses worried about the potential negative impact on their profits and consumers feared that purchasing plant-based products would become more complicated. ProVeg Czechia and Rostlinně, a Czech project that promotes plant-based cooking, also campaigned against the amendment.
“We don’t want to meddle in people’s lives,” Minister Marek Výborný announced on X last week. “I trust producers to label their products fairly so that every customer knows exactly what they’re buying. Conversely, customers are competent and know what they’re purchasing. I really don’t have the ambition to educate people.”

The abandonment of the plans means that Czech businesses will no longer need to rebrand their products and can continue to compete in European markets. A recent YouGov survey commissioned by ProVeg Czechia found that 69% of consumers support the use of terms such as “plant-based sausage”, while 82% understand that products with names like “soy sausage” do not contain meat.
“Common sense has prevailed over industry pressure”
Throughout Europe, similar plans to introduce restrictions on plant-based meat products have failed. France was recently forced to overturn two decrees preventing meat alternatives from being labelled with terms such as “steak” or “sausage”, after the Court of Justice of the European Union found that the restrictions conflicted with European regulations.

Belgium also announced last year that it would abandon plans to establish guidelines on the labelling of vegetarian and vegan products. While Italy has passed restrictions on plant-based food labelling and the sale of cultivated meat, these bans may be unenforceable since they were not subjected to EU scrutiny procedures.
“Consumers know what they’re buying, and any changes to the labeling system would only create confusion,” said Martin Ranninger, Co-Director of ProVeg Czechia. “We welcome Minister Výborný’s decision to allow names like ‘sausage’, ‘schnitzel’, and ‘burger’ to continue being used for plant-based products.
“This decision reflects the opinions of both consumers and producers, and demonstrates that common sense has prevailed over industry pressure. We hope that future regulations will prioritise the genuine needs of consumers over the narrow interests of specific sectors of the food industry.”