The Italian government is planning legislation to ban the production and sale of lab-grown meat. “We are proud to be the first nation in the world to stop this decadence,” said Augusta Montaruli, MP for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party, Fratelli d’Italia.
Laboratory meat or in-vitro meat is based on cells from living animals. In the laboratory, these cells are supplied with nutrients in such a way that they grow in bioreactors and can later be processed into the end product.
The bill still needs to be approved by a majority in Parliament to go into effect. The proposal is part of the government’s plan to strengthen Italy’s culinary traditions. The draft “is based on the precautionary principle, because there is still no scientific research on the effects of synthetic food,” said Health Minister Orazio Schillaci on Tuesday. “We want to protect the health of citizens and safeguard our nation’s heritage as well as our agricultural culture based on the Mediterranean diet.”
Unlike plant-based proteins, cultured meat is not yet found in the supermarket. Most start-ups still need to improve the production technology before it can be approved. So far only Singapore allows the sale of cultured chicken, in the US two companies are waiting for a permit.
“This development puts Italy at odds with the rest of Europe, where other governments are keen to unlock the benefits of cultured meat,” said Alice Ravenscroft, head of policy at the Good Food Institute Europe, which represents the alternative protein industry. The Netherlands, the UK and Spain have all announced funding for alternative proteins in recent years, she said.
