Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier represented Beyond Meat before the Court of Justice of the European Union and obtained a favorable ruling on the use of “meaty” names allowed in France for products containing plant-based proteins

Paris, October 22, 2024

Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier is representing Beyond Meat in its challenge of decree no. 2022-947 of June 29, 2022, concerning the use of certain names to designate foodstuffs containing plant proteins from October 21, 2022, before the Conseil d’Etat. This decree implements article L. 412-10 of the French Consumer Code, which prohibits the use of “meaty” names to describe, market or promote products containing plant proteins.

In the context of this challenge, and before ruling on its conformity with European law, the Conseil d’Etat referred four questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) for a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of Regulation No. 1169/2011 of October 25, 2011, on the provision of food information to consumers on July 12, 2023 (the “INCO Regulation”).

The CJEU responded to these questions in a ruling rendered on October 4, 2024. The CJEU confirms, based on Article 38(1) of the INCO Regulation that, failing the adoption of a legal name, no Member State may “prevent, by means of a general and abstract prohibition, producers of plant protein-based foodstuffs from fulfilling their obligation to indicate the name of those foodstuffs by using customary names or descriptive names” (free translation). It also points out that “the fact of indicating, in the immediate vicinity of the name of the foodstuff, information relating to the replacement of a component or ingredient is sufficient to protect the consumer from the risk of being misled” (free translation).

The CJEU also ruled, subject to verification by the Conseil d’Etat, that decree no. 2022-947 does not contain a legal name, which should render it contrary to the INCO regulation. It is now up to the Conseil d’Etat to rule not only on this challenge, but also on a second challenge lodged against decree no. 2024-144 of February 26, 2024. This latter decree was to repeal and replace decree no. 2022-947. The Conseil d’Etat has, however, suspended both decrees, pending resolution of the merits of the challenges lodged by several companies producing plant protein-based foods, including Beyond Meat.

Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier is delighted with the CJEU’s decision and will continue to assist Beyond Meat in its challenge against decree no. 2022-947.

The Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier team is made up of Carine Dupeyron (partner) and Marcos Barradas, with support from the public law team.