ProVeg International has responded to the Italian Government’s bill to ban cultivated meat. Mathilde Alexandre, ProVeg Cell-Ag Project Coordinator, described the bill as draconian and ignorant of cultivated meat's significant economic and environmental potential.
“Cultivated meat is an important new technology that can positively affect the food system in reducing carbon emissions and pollution, and supports animal welfare and biodiversity while being a real lever for economic growth.”
Compared to conventional meat, cultivated meat shows many promises in terms of sustainability. Cultivated beef could reduce 92 percent of the carbon footprint if renewable energy is used in the production process, a 95 percent reduction of land use and a 78 percent reduction of water requirements, compared to traditional beef.
In 2022, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report listed cellular agriculture as a way to limit pressures on finite natural resources.
Alexandre emphasised that given the urgency of the situation, exploring all promising alternative options was imperative to make the existing food system more sustainable and to transition to a low-carbon economy and society.
Cultivated meat is a nascent industry that also has the potential to become a significant economic driver, creating new jobs and business opportunities.
A study by Oxford Economics showed that in the United Kingdom, the cultivated meat sector could add over £2 billion to the economy and create up to 16,500 jobs by 2030. By banning it, ProVeg stated that Italy could be limiting its potential for scientific and economic advancement while other European countries continue to invest in this promising field.
Furthermore, Alexandre shared that Italy could view the cultivated meat industry as taking an opportunity to diversify its food supply and expand consumer choice.
Cultivated meat must undergo the same strict regulatory processes and safety tests as any novel food item before being authorised for commercial use.
In the European Union, food products not significantly used for human consumption before May 1997 are considered novel foods.
This category includes new foods, food from new sources, new substances used in food, and new technologies for producing food, which cultivated meat falls into. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assesses the risk of a novel food at the request of the European Commission to ensure it's safe for consumers.
