In a laboratory in the Netherlands, they have succeeded in producing something similar to minced meat. It is “real meat”, with cultured cells from cattle.
There are examples of restaurants in the US and Singapore that serve the still expensive and energy-intensive cultured meat, but no widespread impact has come.
It is a cumbersome and rather expensive process – which probably still does not satisfy the demands of meat lovers. But it is also a way of eating meat for those who have ethical objections to the meat industry.
Italy goes out hard
Italy imposed a total ban on lab-grown meat on Thursday. It is the right-wing coalition headed by Georgia Meloni that made the decision.
“We defend jobs, the environment, the culture and the identity – which is deeply rooted in quality food”, says the Minister of Agriculture, who is also Meloni’s brother-in-law, Francesco Lollobrigida, to Politico.
Lollobrigida further says that lab-grown meat risks moving meat production abroad.
The opposition in Italy is critical and calls it “ideological propaganda”.
Congressman in the United States also wants to ban
US Congressman Tyler Sirois from Florida also wants to ban lab-grown meat. His argument is that it is far from “nature and creation”.
So far, US authorities have given permission to two companies to produce lab-grown meat.