Vegetarian and Vegan
Under Polish law, unlike the majority of European Union Member States, there exists a national legal definition of vegetarian and vegan food products. These definitions are set out in the Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of 23 December 2014 on the labelling of particular types of foodstuffs (Dz.U. of 2015, item 29, as amended). It should be noted that no binding definitions of food suitable for vegans or vegetarians have been adopted at the level of EU law; the Polish provisions therefore fill a regulatory gap at the national level.
According to § 1 point 2 of the Regulation, the labelling of a foodstuff may state that the “product may be consumed by vegetarians” or is “suitable for vegetarians”, provided that the foodstuff does not contain ingredients obtained from animals, or that products obtained from animals have not been used in its production process (Rozporządzenie Ministra Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi z dnia 23 grudnia 2014 r. w sprawie znakowania poszczególnych rodzajów środków spożywczych (Dz. U. z 2015 r. poz. 29 z późn. zm.)
§ 1 pkt 2). Similarly, under § 1 point 3, the labelling may state that the “product may be consumed by vegans” or is “suitable for vegans”, provided that the foodstuff does not contain any ingredients of animal origin, or that products of animal origin have not been used in its production process (Rozporządzenie Ministra Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi z dnia 23 grudnia 2014 r. w sprawie znakowania poszczególnych rodzajów środków spożywczych (Dz. U. z 2015 r. poz. 29 z późn. zm.)
§ 1 pkt 3).
Both definitions are based on a dual criterion. The first concerns the composition of the product, requiring the exclusion of ingredients obtained from animals in the case of vegetarian products, and of any ingredients of animal origin in the case of vegan products. The second concerns the production process, which must not involve the use of products obtained from animals or of animal origin. The key difference between the two standards lies in their scope: while vegetarian food excludes ingredients obtained from animals, such as meat, the vegan standard additionally excludes products of animal origin, including milk, eggs, honey and other products derived from insects (K. Leśkiewicz, I. Lipińska, A. Szymecka-Wesołowska, M. Taczanowski, K. Wolnicka, Żywność wegańska i wegetariańska [w:] P. A. Blajer, K. Leśkiewicz (red.), Prawo rolne i żywnościowe. Tom 18, 2026).
The use of these indications on the label is voluntary, since § 1 of the Regulation provides that the labelling of a foodstuff may include the information listed therein (Rozporządzenie Ministra Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi z dnia 23 grudnia 2014 r. w sprawie znakowania poszczególnych rodzajów środków spożywczych (Dz. U. z 2015 r. poz. 29 z późn. zm.)
§ 1). However, once a producer decides to use such an indication, the product must meet the substantive conditions set out in the Regulation. It is also worth noting that the breach of these conditions may be relevant under the general Polish rules prohibiting misleading commercial practices and acts of unfair competition, as confirmed in the commentary to the Act on Combating Unfair Competition (M. Kępiński, J. Kępiński [w:] J. Szwaja (red.), Ustawa o zwalczaniu nieuczciwej konkurencji. Komentarz, wyd. 5, 2019, art. 10).
In summary, a vegetarian product under Polish law is one which contains no ingredients obtained from animals and in the production of which no products obtained from animals have been used, whereas a vegan product is one which contains no ingredients of animal origin whatsoever and in the production of which no products of animal origin have been used. Labelling a product as suitable for vegetarians or vegans is permissible only under these conditions.
This information is based exclusively on Polish statutory provisions and Polish legal commentary. It does not constitute legal advice with respect to any specific product and, in the case of doubt as to the compliance of a particular product’s labelling, an individual assessment of its composition and production process is recommended.
