French butchers call for ban on fake bacon because it’s too good

On a full back page advert in  a French newspaper the company told its buyers to send a letter to the bacon lobby.

It read: “Dear pork lobby. Thanks for the compliment. 

“We think that your pork lardons are indistinguishable from our veggie lardons. Would you mind changing your recipe?”

This is printed on a mocked-up postcard, with the address printed on the right and room for a stamp.

This comes as France prepares to ban the use of “steak”, “sausage” and “bacon” for plant based foods.

Intended to reduce confusion for shoppers, the Council of steak (Council d’État) decreed: “It will no longer be possible to use terms proper to sectors traditionally associated with meat and fish to designate products not belonging to the animal world.”

This was paused on July 27 to give the industry time to make appropriate changes to branding and marketing. 

A spokesperson from The Vegan Society said: “Companies like La Vie are offering a like-for-like product without the suffering and misery pigs endure for someone to eat bacon. 

“If a consumer can still have that experience without any harm involved, why wouldn’t they? 

“It is understandable that farmers fear that meat alternatives will take away some of their market.  A shift to plant-based agriculture will not happen overnight and The Vegan Society’s Grow Green campaign lobbies for policy change to allow a shift from animal farming towards plant protein agriculture. 

“Farmers need to be supported to make this change as a vegan diet is a major factor in delivering net zero – a goal the EU and the UK government have in common.”