The Ulster/North Leinster Regional Chairman of the IFA is supporting calls to stop labelling meat-free products with names used to describe meat.
Frank Brady, from Monaghan, was responding to an EU Commission proposal that would restrict vegetarian and vegan products being described with terms like ‘burger’ or 'sausage'.
Last year the top court in Europe ruled the names were fair to use on the condition the packaging explained clearly what was inside.
Irish farmers have been backing the new proposal, saying it's not fair for new products to 'hijack' the traditional names.
Speaking on the Joe Finnegan show, Mr. Brady said consumers want the labels of their products to be correct.
He said vegan or vegetarian products should be called something else so people know what they are.
"What is a sausage? A sausage is something that's made up of pork, beef, or whatever meat you want. That's what a sausage is. It's not plant. A plant-based thing is a plant-based thing, so name it as a plant-based food object. Don't name it as something else. If you don't want to eat sausage meat, fair enough, that is your choice, but if you want to eat sausage meat, you go out and you buy your sausage. You go out and you buy your beef burger, you buy your lamb burger, whatever you want to buy. People know that it is what it is. If I go out to buy a car and I want to buy a Mercedes, I don't want it labelled BMW. I don't want it labelled Porsche. I want it labelled Mercedes. It's the same if you're buying anything. You want it labelled properly and that has been wrong for too long. These people are trying to catch in on the popularity of meat."
