Last year, the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture agreed on a new proposal to ban producers of herbal products from using words traditionally associated with meat.
But now the proposal has received a no in Parliament.
Among other things, the soy sausage, quorn mince and vegan burger may thus retain their names.
Several countries, including France and Spain, have already introduced a ban on meat-based herbal names, but critics say a EU-wide ban would hit the growing vegetarian industry hard.