95% of UK Consumers Understand That Meat-Free Products Do Not Contain Meat
September 2026
“This is strong evidence against the claim that consumers are confused by [plant-based] products using the words “sausage” and “chicken” in their names.
– Chris Bryant
It is sometimes claimed that meat-free products such as veggie sausages or plant-based chicken should not be allowed to use labels like “sausage” or “chicken”. The justification offered is that consumers might be confused about whether these products actually contain meat.
We conducted a nationally representative survey of 1,007 UK adults. Respondents were shown images of popular UK meat-free products from Quorn and THIS. For each product, respondents were asked:
“Does this product contain meat from an animal?”
As shown, 96% of respondents correctly identified that Quorn meat-free sausages do not contain meat from an animal, while 94% of respondents correctly identified that THIS Isn’t Chicken does not contain meat from an animal. Just 2% incorrectly thought that each product contained meat from an animal.
This is strong evidence against the claim that consumers are confused by these products using the words “sausage” and “chicken” in their names.
