Remember the times when the controversial lab-grown meat was nothing but another “conspiracy theory”? Well, like many others, it seems that we can mark this one as a plain fact as well. Check out more details about the matter below.
Lab-grown meat is approved by the FDA
Italy has recently become the first country to ban cultivated meat, also known as lab-grown meat. This decision was made to protect its farming industry, economy, and the health of its citizens.
Lab-grown meat is created in a lab using a five-step process where stem cells from an animal are replicated and grown in a series of bioreactors.
The meat cells are then blended with additives to create a more realistic texture, drained in a centrifuge, formed, and packaged for distribution.
According to consulting firm McKinsey & Company, this is how lab-grown meat is produced.
In a Nov. 16 Facebook post, Italian Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida said, “In defense of health, of the Italian production system, of thousands of jobs, of our culture and tradition, with the law approved today, Italy is the first nation in the world to be safe from the social and economic risks of synthetic food,” according to an English translation.
The Italian Senate approved the bill with a majority of 159-53 votes, which was backed by the country’s agricultural groups to safeguard Italy’s meat-processing industry worth $10.1 billion.
In the United States, there have been attempts to restrict the sale of lab-grown meat or to ensure that customers are aware of what they are purchasing. A law passed in Missouri in 2018 bans the use of the term “meat” for plant-based and lab-grown food products.
“This act also prohibits misrepresenting a product as meat that is not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry,” the law states.
On Nov. 13, Florida state Rep. Tyler Sirois filed a bill that aims to prohibit the “manufacturing, sale, holding, or distribution of cultivated meat” in the state.
“Farming and cattle are incredibly important industries to Florida,” the Republican legislator told Politico. “So I think this is a very relevant discussion for our state to have.”
Restaurants and stores that violate the bill HB 435 could face fines of up to $5,000. Manufacturers, processors, packers, or distributors who misrepresent or mislabel the food may face fines of up to $10,000 per violation.
