Italy
The minister says the aim is to “protect our nation’s heritage” but activists say artificial meat shows promise
Wed 29 Mar 2023 14.08 BST
The Italian government has passed a bill that would ban lab-grown foods, including artificial meat, as it seeks to “protect our nation’s heritage”.
Under the ban, which has to be passed in both houses of parliament, those who produce, export or import food derived from animal cells face fines of up to 60,000 euros and risk having their production facilities closed.
Coldiretti, Italy’s largest farmers’ association, has campaigned for the ban, arguing that domestic produce must be protected from “the attacks of multinational companies”.
The production of cell-based foods, which advocates say avoids killing animals and is better for the environment, has yet to catch on in Europe and it is expected to be years before such products appear on supermarket shelves.
Italy’s attempt to ban the practice is “based on the precautionary principle,” Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said during a news conference. “[Because] There are still no scientific studies on the effects of synthetic foods. We want to protect our nation’s heritage and our agriculture based on the Mediterranean diet.”
Meatballs made from long-extinct mammoth, made by a food company
Italy’s right-wing government, led by Giorgia Meloni, pledged to protect Italian food from technological advances when it came to power in October.
Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, said the aim of the bill is “to protect our culture and tradition, including food and wine”. He said: “In our opinion, laboratory products are not a guarantee of quality, well-being and the protection of our culture, our tradition.”
The opposition and animal rights groups have criticized the move. Riccardo Magi, the president of the small left-wing Più Europa party, said the government had “created a new crime”.
“This time they’re skipping it on synthetic foods, preferring to continue with their ruthless ban rather than researching and developing technology that could allow us to pollute and kill less,” Magi said.
Although there have been advances in cultured meat in recent years, production remains low. So far, Singapore is the only country to have allowed the sale of broiler chickens, while two companies in the US have received regulatory approval to produce lab-bred chickens.
European countries including the UK, the Netherlands and Spain have announced investments in research and development of cell-based foods.
“Italy is essentially a total outlier here,” said Alice Ravenscroft, head of policy at the Good Food Institute Europe, an NGO that helps build a more sustainable food system. “What we’re seeing in the rest of Europe is that other governments are keen to unlock some of the benefits of cultured meat and are therefore supporting us.”
Ravenscroft said Italy’s reasons for the ban were “extremely misguided”. “It is important to emphasize that cultured meat has many potential benefits and passing such a law would essentially exclude Italy from it,” she said.
Citing research, Ravenscroft said cultured meat can produce up to 92% fewer emissions than conventional meat, reduce air pollution associated with meat production by up to 94% and take up up to 90% less land. “We could meet the demand for meat while protecting the environment,” she said.
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