PARIS, Sept 4 Reuters France unveiled on Monday revised proposals banning the use of meat names like steak and spare ribs for plantbased food made in the country as it seeks to avoid misleading claims of some meat alternatives.

The first country in the European Union to attempt to impose such a restriction, France had already tried to pass such a measure in June last year but it was suspended by the country39;s highest administrative court a month later, which argued that it was too vague and the timing too short.

The global plantbased protein market has seen a sharp rise in recent years, mainly driven by increasing demand for environmentfriendly and healthy food. The industry often uses references to meat products, fuelling anger among livestock farmers and meat processors in France, the EU39;s biggest agricultural producer.

The new draft decree, which only applies to products made and sold in France, bans a list of 21 meat names to describe proteinbased products, including steak, escalope, spare ribs, ham or butcher.

However, over 120 meatassociated names such as cooked ham, poultry, sausage or bacon will still be authorised provided that the products do not exceed a certain amount of plant proteins, with percentages ranging between 0.5 and 6.

This new draft decree reflects our desire to put an end to misleading claims … by using names relating to meat products for foodstuffs that do not contain them, French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said in a statement….