Italy has become the first country to ban lab-grown meat.
Francesco Lollobrigida, Italian minister for food sovereignty and agriculture, warned that lab-grown meat undermines Italian culture, identity and civilization, according to a Politico report.
“Italy is the world’s first country safe from the social and economic risks of synthetic food,” Lollobrigida said. The measure to ban lab-grown meat was proposed earlier this spring, and was approved on a 159-53 vote, with 34 abstentions.
The law will not allow the sale nor production of the cultivated meats, and fines between €10,000-60,000 could be imposed for each violation. Italian Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said the new law will help safeguard the country’s food heritage and culture, which is based on the Mediterranean diet.
