Italy may ban lab meat to defend food culture

Italy’s government has introduced a draft law to ban the production and sale of cultivated food and meat.

“We are proud to be the first nation in the world to stop this decadence,” said Augusta Montaruli, a legislator from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party.

Cultivated, or cell-based, meat is created by harvesting cells from live animals and providing them with nutrients so they grow in bioreactors. Additional steps turn the cells into a consumer-ready meat product.

The draft law, which will come into force only if approved by both houses of parliament, appears to be a preventive move to signal government’s determination to defend Italy’s culinary tradition. The draft “is based on the precautionary principle, because there are no scientific studies yet on the effects of synthetic foods”, health minister Orazio Schillaci told reporters on Tuesday. “We want to protect citizens’ health and to safeguard our nation’s heritage and our agrifood culture based on the Mediterranean diet.”

Plant-based protein is widely available, but cultivated meat has a long way to go. Most start-ups have yet to scale up the technology and get regulatory approval.

“This development puts Italy at odds with the rest of Europe, where other governments are eager to unlock the benefits of cultivated meat,” said Alice Ravenscroft, policy head at the Good Food Institute Europe, which represents the alternative protein industry.

The Netherlands, the UK and Spain have announced funding for alternative proteins in recent years, she said.