Italy's government has approved a bill that would ban laboratory-produced meat and other synthetic foods, highlighting Italian food heritage and health protection.
If the proposal is passed by parliament, Italian industry will not be allowed to produce food from cell cultures or tissues derived from vertebrate animals and breaking the ban would attract fines of up to €60,000 (£53,000).
"Laboratory products in our opinion do not guarantee quality, well-being and the protection of our culture, our tradition," said Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, a senior member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy party, according to a BBC report.
Pro farmer
Meloni's nationalist administration has vowed to shield the Italian food industry from technological innovations deemed harmful, and renamed the agriculture ministry the "ministry for agriculture and food sovereignty".
Coldiretti, Italy’s biggest farmers’ association, has lobbied for the ban, arguing that homegrown produce needs to be shielded from “the attacks of multinational companies”.
According to a BBC report, Francesco Lollobrigida, who runs the rebranded ministry for agriculture and food sovereignty, spoke of the importance of Italy's food tradition.
Big blow for animal welfare groups
While the farmers' lobby praised the move, it was a big blow for some animal welfare groups, which have highlighted lab-made meat as a solution to issues including protecting the environment from carbon emissions and food safety.
The proposed bill comes after a series of government decrees banning the use of flour derived from insects such as crickets and locusts in pizza or pasta. The Italian government wants information labels to be put on products containing or made from insects.
Ministers have cited Italy's prized Mediterranean diet as their motivation for both measures.
Still, the initiative to ban lab-grown foods has angered organisations supporting the development of "cell-based" agricultural products across Europe, as well as animal rights groups.
Lab based meat production
Although there have been advances in cultured meat in recent years, production remains small. It might take years before such products take a centre stage and are consumed by the people.
The production of cell-based food, which animal welfare groups argue avoids the need for animals to be killed and is better for the environment, has not yet taken off in Europe.
To date, Singapore is the only country to have allowed the sale of cultivated chicken, while two companies in the US have been granted regulatory clearance to produce lab-grown chicken.
