Vita gazette – The production of synthetic meat is prohibited! Parliament approved banning the production of meat and the sale of these products in laboratory environments.

The law, which prohibits the laboratory production and sale of meat produced using animal cell and tissue cultures, was drawn up to protect “Italian cuisine” and the agricultural industry.

The provision prohibits using names such as “steak” or “salami” to indicate plant-based foods. Still, it prohibits the production, consumption and marketing of foods and feeds generated from cell cultures. In reality, it is more correct to call it “cultured” meat since it is produced in a laboratory from animal cells. Synthetic meat is a product created from animal cells taken through a biopsy and grown on “soil, ” a nutrient-rich solution. After growth, these stem cells, which had no specialisation, differentiate into muscle cells.

Coldiretti: 3 out of 4 Italians against laboratory meat

In the European Union, cultured meat is considered a novel food and, therefore, must undergo strict controls and regulations that regulate the introducing these foods on our market. It should be underlined that, according to Coldiretti, almost 3 out of 4 Italians (74%) say no to synthetic food produced in laboratories, from meat to milk to fish. According to the farmers’ association, behind the expensive research into artificial meat, there are “financial power groups and multinationals” who “are trying to impose (synthetic meat) on world markets despite doubts about the long-term effects on human health”.

The import ban violates European rules regarding the free movement of goods, one of the founding principles of the Union. Furthermore, it risks being considered illegitimate because it is configured as a preventive ban, i.e., established before the European Union legislated on the matter. Therefore, if the European institutions were to approve the marketing of meat grown in the Union, the ban would be cancelled.

Synthetic meat (or by its other names, “cultured meat”, “clean meat”, or “in vitro meat”) is a name given to meat produced under laboratory conditions using bioengineering technologies. Since Mark Post, a professor at Maastricht University, announced the first hamburger made with synthetic meat in 2013, interest in this sector has increased. According to a prediction made in 2019, the global artificial meat market will reach $16.3 million in 2022; it will get a volume of $19.8 million in 2027. According to another estimate made in 2020, the sector will become a $206 million industry in 2020, expected to reach $572 million in 2025.