If you sell a plant-based food into the European Union, a 2017 judgment decides what you are allowed to call it. Most exporters meet it the expensive way — after the artwork is printed. And the answer is not the same in every member state, which is the part that catches people.
What Happened in the TofuTown Case
A German company, TofuTown.com GmbH, sold vegetarian and vegan products under names like Soyatoo tofu butter, Plant cheese, Veggie Cheese and Cream.
A German association against unfair competition sued for an injunction. The Regional Court in Trier referred the question to the Court of Justice of the European Union: if you add a clarifying word — tofu butter, soya milk — does that make the name lawful?
On 14 June 2017, in Case C‑422/16, the Court answered. No.
The reserved terms cannot be used for a purely plant-based product, the Court held, even if those terms are expanded upon by clarifying or descriptive terms indicating the plant origin of the product.
Why Adding "Soya" or "Tofu" Does Not Save You
This is the sentence worth remembering. Adding descriptions or explanations to a reserved designation, the Court said, "cannot prevent with certainty any likelihood of confusion in the mind of the consumer."
It is not whether your label probably confuses somebody. It is whether the qualifier rules confusion out. Putting "soya" in front of "milk" does not — so the name fails.
Which Words Are Reserved
Under the EU's common market organisation regulation, "milk" means the normal mammary secretion obtained from one or more milkings, without anything added to it or extracted from it. These names are reserved for products derived exclusively from milk:
- Milk — and every translation of it
- Whey
- Cream
- Butter
- Buttermilk
- Cheese
- Yoghurt
The Exception List Nobody Reads
There is a carve-out, and it is where the money is. A Commission decision from 2010 lists traditional names that escape the rule entirely — cocoa butter, peanut butter, ice-cream, salad cream, cream crackers, butter beans, fruit cheese, and coconut milk.
Here is the part that catches exporters. That list is written language by language, and the languages do not match each other.
| Language | Almond | Coconut |
|---|---|---|
| German | Not listed | Kokosmilch — permitted |
| Spanish | Leche de almendras — permitted | Not listed |
| English | Not listed | Coconut milk — permitted |
| French | Lait d'amande — permitted | Lait de coco — permitted |
| Italian | Latte di mandorla — permitted | Latte di cocco — permitted |
Germany is not a hypothetical here. TofuTown was a German company, sued in a German court, under German unfair-competition law — and the German section of that annex carries Kokosmilch, Kakaobutter and Erdnussbutter, but no almond entry at all. Cross into Spain and leche de almendras is expressly listed.
Now read the second column. The Spanish section contains exactly one entry — leche de almendras — and no coconut. English is the precise mirror: coconut listed, almond absent. The two products swap places depending on which language you print.
Same product. Same union. Same law. The word on the pack decides it.
Nine EU Languages Have No List at All
The annex covers fifteen languages. Croatia joined the Union in 2013, three years after the decision was written, and the decision has never been reopened.
Croatian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Czech, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese and Irish have no entries whatsoever — not even for coconut milk. If your label is in one of those languages, there is nothing on the list to point at.
What to Call It Instead
The replacement name is not a free choice either. Regulation 1169/2011 sets a strict order: a food takes its legal name; if there is none, its customary name; and only if there is no customary name, a descriptive name.
For plant drinks no legal name exists, so "soya drink" and "oat drink" work as customary names. For one product on this list, though, a legal name does exist — and most brands get it wrong.
| Do not call it | Use instead | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Soya milk | Soya drink | Customary name, Art. 17(1) |
| Almond milk | Almond drink | In German, English, Dutch, Portuguese |
| Cashew cheese | Descriptive name + substitution flag | Annex VI Part A(4) |
| Vegan butter | Margarine, or "fat spread X%" | Prescribed by fat content |
| Coconut milk | Keep it | Listed in 10 languages — but not Spanish |
| Peanut butter | Keep it | Listed as a nut butter |
"Plant-Based Spread" Is Not a Legal Name
This is the one that catches vegan butter brands. Spreadable fats have their own reserved sales descriptions in the same regulation as milk, and they are set by fat content — not by marketing preference. For a solid spread made from vegetable fats:
| Fat content | Legal name |
|---|---|
| 80% to under 90% | Margarine |
| 60–62% | Three-quarter-fat margarine |
| 39–41% | Half-fat margarine |
| Anything else in range | Fat spread X% — with the number |
So a vegan butter block at 82% fat is legally margarine. At 70% it is "fat spread 70%". The reservation bites on products between 10% and 90% fat that stay solid at 20 °C, which is why a 100% coconut oil sits outside it.
When you present a product as an alternative to a dairy one, the ingredient doing the substituting must be named in close proximity to the product name, in type at least 75% of the x-height of that name. Not buried in the ingredients list.
Two Things This Ruling Does Not Do
It does not cover meat or fish substitutes
TofuTown argued exactly that — vegan meat producers face no comparable restriction. The Court replied that each sector of the market organisation has features specific to it, so the comparison could not support a discrimination claim. A different rulebook, not a loophole to lean on.
It does not ban descriptive language
A 2021 proposal known as Amendment 171 would have extended the restriction to dairy-style descriptors, comparisons, even packaging shapes. It was dropped in May 2021. "Creamy" survived. "Cream" did not.
The Part That Costs Exporters Money
It applies to marketing and advertising, not just the label
The Court's words are "in marketing or advertising". Your website, your Amazon listing, your catalogue PDF and your trade-fair banner are all in scope. Fixing the pack is not fixing the problem.
It is enforced by your competitors
TofuTown was not stopped at a border. It was sued by a trade association under national unfair-competition law. You can clear customs cleanly and still receive an injunction six months into the relationship — at which point your distributor is the one holding unsellable stock. That is how you lose a buyer permanently.
What to Do Before You Print
- Check the reserved terms against every market you sell into, in the language you sell in
- Check the exception list for that same language — not the English one, unless English is the language on the pack
- If the product is a spread, work out the legal name from the fat content before the designer starts
- If you present it as an alternative to a dairy product, place the substitution declaration next to the name at 75% x-height
- Apply the same check to your website, listings and catalogue, not only the artwork
It is a twenty-minute job before artwork. It is a recall afterwards.
Sources
Every rule above is quoted from the primary text, not from secondary reporting:
- The judgment — Case C‑422/16, Verband Sozialer Wettbewerb eV v TofuTown.com GmbH, 14 June 2017, Seventh Chamber. EUR-Lex CELEX 62016CJ0422
- The exception list — Commission Decision 2010/791/EU, Annex I. EUR-Lex CELEX 32010D0791. EUR-Lex records it as in force with no substantive amendment, which is what makes the "not listed" entries above reliable.
- Reserved dairy designations and spreads — Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Annex VII Part III and Part VII with Appendix II. Consolidated text
- Naming hierarchy and the substitution rule — Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Article 17(1) and Annex VI Part A(4). Consolidated text
This article explains the rules as published. It is not legal advice for a specific product — if you are close to a threshold, or labelling for a market whose language has no exception list, take advice on that pack.
Check Your Label Before the Artwork Is Printed
Copago Label Maker runs your pack copy against the labelling rules of 24 markets in 33 languages, and cites the rule that applies next to every finding.
