{"id":816758,"date":"2026-03-10T14:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/816758\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T14:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:12:14","slug":"beef-monster-munch-and-bacon-fries-face-being-renamed-under-brexit-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/816758\/","title":{"rendered":"Beef Monster Munch and Bacon Fries face being renamed under Brexit laws"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beloved British snacks, such as roast beef Monster Munch and Smith\u2019s Bacon Fries, could soon be forced to change their names under the UK\u2019s reset deal with Brussels<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cupboard staples, including chicken and mushroom Pot Noodles, which use only plant-based ingredients, may also have to rebrand under changes being introduced by the European Union<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Under the EU proposals, only products containing real meat will be able to use meat-related terms, such as bacon, steak, chicken and beef, on their packaging.<\/p>\n

New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n

Campaigners have warned that despite Brexit<\/a>, Britain would likely have to follow these rules as it seeks to negotiate a new Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement<\/a> with Brussels.<\/p>\n

This is in a bid to facilitate smoother agri-food trade between the two markets.<\/p>\n

The new rules may also prevent flavour descriptions, such as \u201cchicken or bacon-flavoured crisps\u201d when the ingredients come from plant-based seasonings rather than animal products, according to a leaked draft text.<\/p>\n

Campaigners say that if the plans go ahead, the rules could affect a wide range of \u201caccidentally vegetarian\u201d British staples \u2014 including chicken and mushroom Pot Noodles, roast beef Monster Munch, Walkers Smoky Bacon crisps, Walkers Roast Chicken crisps and Smith\u2019s Bacon Fries.<\/p>\n

It has led to warnings that the changes will put pressure on Britain\u2019s \u00a35.4bn-a-year savoury snack sector. If the EU legislation passes its final hurdle, the changes could be enforced in Britain from next year.<\/p>\n

The move comes after Brussels was forced to abandon more draconian plans that sought to ban the use of \u201csausages\u201d and \u201cburgers\u201d when describing plant-based items. <\/p>\n

Instead, the EU proposed using terms such as \u201cveggie discs\u201d in place of \u201cveggie burgers\u201d, but the plans were aborted last week having been criticised by the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, who warned the move would threaten the future of his late wife\u2019s vegetarian food brand, Linda McCartney.<\/p>\n

The latest plans to ban meat labels is being opposed by green campaign group WePlanet, which leads a \u201cNo Confusion\u201d coalition of groups and companies that is preparing a legal challenge in the European Court of Justice, should the new legislation be adopted. <\/p>\n

Joel Scott-Halkes, director of impact at WePlanet, said: \u201cClassic British snacks could soon be snatched out from under our noses by the EU\u2019s latest round of meddling in common sense food labels. British consumers aren\u2019t idiots.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter generations of enjoying beloved products like Smith\u2019s Bacon Fries or chicken and mushroom Pot Noodles we don\u2019t need Brussels bureaucrats policing what we call them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for [Sir Keir] Starmer to intervene and save our snacks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beloved British snacks, such as roast beef Monster Munch and Smith\u2019s Bacon Fries, could soon be forced to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":816759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,1203,42796,4884,3027,13128,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-816758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-food","15":"tag-food-standards","16":"tag-great-britain","17":"tag-politics-news","18":"tag-trade-deal","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116205292565086593","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=816758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/816759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=816758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=816758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}