Italy’s controversial bill that aspires to prohibit the sale of foods from cellular agriculture and ‘meat sounding’-that is, the reference to names of meats and their derivatives to designate foods of a different nature (i.e., ‘plant-based foods’-is garnering a number of negative comments from stakeholders, in Europe and Italy.
1) Cellular agriculture and ‘meat sounding’, Italian bill under EU lens
The Italian government-famous for systematically failing to dutifully notify Brussels of bills in the agribusiness sector (1)-has finally followed procedures, at least once. By notifying the European Commission of a bill dictated by Coldiretti-and hailed by the governing majority, with the fearful abstention of the Democratic Party-aimed at:
– ban the marketing of ‘synthetic foods’, in the crass and confusing Coldiretti (and government) narrative that instead supports ‘deregulation’ of new GMOs and strenuously opposes pesticide reduction in agriculture, (2)
– Ban the use of names of meats and their derivatives (e.g., hamburgers, sausages, frankfurters) in labeling and advertising of foods of non-animal origin. As -France has tried to do, with a decree now before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). (3)
2) Brussels notification procedure
The Italian bill in question was notified to Brussels-under EU Directive 2015/1535, in the Technical Regulations Information System (TRIS)-on August 27, 2023. (4) The legislative process must therefore remain suspended until the ‘standstill period’ expires on October 30, 2023.
The Commission by that date may request more information from Italy, extend the suspension period, consider the views of member states and express an opinion on the (il)legality of the national regulatory scheme. Stakeholders in turn can offer input.
3) Early input from stakeholders
Early comments from stakeholders on the bans the Italian legislature would like to introduce are caustic. The Italian bill, as already mentioned on our GIFT site, (2) is in fact:
– in blatant conflict with European Union law, insofar as the Italian legislature arrogates to itself competences in the field of novel foods, the regulation of which has been harmonized for a quarter of a century, (5)
– of questionable legality, pending CJEU ruling, (3) insofar as it aspires to frustrate the legitimate expectations of operators who have been marketing veg foods under generic names (e.g., burger) in the EU for decades.
3.1) Cellular Agriculture Europe
Cellular Agriculture Europe-an association representing cellular agriculture operators in Europe-dwells on the most naïve points of the Italian bill, where:
- the absence of ‘specific legislation in the EU’ is asserted, ignoring the existence of the Novel Food Regulation (EU) No 2015/2283, which instead provides for a special procedure for the authorization of novel foods, following scientific assessment of their safety,
- it is ignored that cellular agriculture finds application in the plant and fungal kingdoms, as well as in the animal kingdom. Indeed, EFSA’s first favorable opinion concerns the safety for human consumption of apple biomass developed as follows, (6)
- one aspires to ban the production and sale in Italy of food products whose free movement in the single market, following authorization as novel foods in the EU, cannot be hindered. Regardless of the theories of the ministers on duty.
3.2) BEUC
BEUC – the European Consumers Association – draws attention to growing consumer awareness of the negative environmental and public health impacts associated with intensive meat production and consumption. IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has shown a high potential for mitigating these impacts by adopting diets in line with dietary recommendations, with a higher content of plant foods. (7)
‘However, for this to happen, a range of attractive, accessible and affordable alternative sources of protein must be available.’ And the European regulation on novel foods – in addition to ensuring compliance with the precautionary principle, on which European legislation in the field is based (except derailed, when it comes to pesticides), – provides for ‘additional label information’ on the nature of novel foods.
Consumers polled in a BEUC survey in 2019, on the other hand, are overwhelmingly supportive (42.4 percent in EU, 47 percent in Italy) of the use of names such as ‘hamburger’ or ‘sausage’ on plant-based products, as long as they are clearly identifiable as vegetarian and/or vegan. (8) On average, only one in five European consumers (20.4 percent) believe that the use of ‘meaty’ names should not be allowed on vegetarian/vegan products.
3.3) Being Animals
The Italian association ‘Being Animals,’ in boasting more than 800,000 supporters, does not indulge on ethical issues but rather on hindering research, innovation and economic growth in a promising sector that responds, moreover, to consumer demands.
IPCC, in its Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change (2022), recognizes that emerging food technologies-such as precision fermentation and plant-based foods-can promise substantial reductions in direct greenhouse gas emissions in food production.
The ‘precautionary principle’ evoked by Italian Health Minister Orazio Schillaci to ‘safeguard national heritage,’ it is worth adding, has nothing to do with the principle crystallized in the TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Art. 191).
3.4) Italian Food Union
Unione Italiana Food, the largest association of food industries in Italy, in turn intervenes to state that:
– ‘overall, companies offer a very diverse range of products, including a wide range of plant-based products.’
– such products are derived from common agricultural raw materials such as legumes, cereals, seeds, vegetables and/or their protein isolates, without the use of cellular agriculture,
– industries have been marketing ‘plant-based foods’ for decades, offering consumers transparent news about their characteristics,
– 80 percent of Italian consumers, according to a recent survey by AstraRicerche for UIF, read labels carefully and are well able to distinguish between products,
– the European Parliament has already rejected the proposal to ban ‘meat sounding’ which therefore must be removed from the Italian bill. (9)
3.5) Jeremy Coller Foundation
Jeremy Coller Foundation
(UK) works in the two strategic areas of management education and animal welfare (as well as to public and environmental health, from a ‘One Health’ perspective). Aiming to reduce pressure from intensive livestock farms through the Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR) initiative.
The foundation insists on the need to respond to an increase in global food demand, estimated at about +56 percent between 2010 and 2050. ‘New technologies and modes of food production will therefore be increasingly needed to ensure access to healthy and sustainable diets for all.’ Plant-based food, fermentation (i.e., mycoproteins), cellular agriculture.
3.6) European Vegetarian Union
European Vegetarian Union points out that the use of names such as ‘veggie burger’ or ‘vegan tofu sausage’ for foods with plant proteins has been well-established for decades, with no misunderstandings whatsoever. And paradoxically, using new names – e.g., ‘veggie disc’ instead of ‘veggie burger’ – would only complicate the buying process for consumers.
The ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy after all states that ‘switching to a more plant-based diet, with less red and processed meat and more fruits and vegetables, will reduce not only the risks of life-threatening diseases, but also the environmental impact of the food system.’ A goal that can only be achieved if consumers are able to quickly and easily identify plant-based alternatives.
4) Interim Conclusions
Italy ‘s ‘Coldirette’ institutions stand out once again for dispersing public resources in an unenforceable bill because it is contrary to European law as well as common sense. At the expense of taxpayers and the reliability of a system-Country that repels rather than attracts investment.
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) Dario Dongo (2019). Food Regulations and Enforcement in Italy. Reference Module in Food Science. Elsevier, pp. 1-5. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100596-5.21172-
(2) Dario Dongo. Italy, Senate passes law banning cellular agriculture and ‘meat sounding’. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 24.7.23
(3) “Marta Strinati, Dario Dongo. Meat sounding, the floor of the EU Court of Justice. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 28.8.23
(4) ‘Provisions on the prohibition of the production and marketing of food and feed consisting of, isolated from or produced from cell cultures or tissues derived from vertebrate animals and on the prohibition of the designation as meat (… )’. https://tinyurl.com/5579vav3 Notification No 2023/0469/IT (Italy)
(5) Novel Food Regulation (EC) No 258/97, repealed by the subsequent Reg (EU) No 2015/2283
(6) EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA)Safety of apple fruit cell culture biomass as a novel food pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. EFSA Journal Journal 2023;21(7):8065. doi: 0.2903/j.efsa.2023.8065
(7) Dario Dongo. Land grabbing and climate change, the 2019 IPCC report. Égalité. 14.8.19
(8) Dario Dongo. Vegetarian and vegan, another bluff from Brussels. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 7.11.17
(9) Dario Dongo. ‘Vegan meat’, meat sounding. Big show at the European Parliament. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 23.10.20
(10) Dario Dongo. State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2023. FAO report et al.. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 23.8.23
(11) Zane Swanson, Caitlin Welsh, and Joseph Majkut (2023). Mitigating Risk and Capturing Opportunity: The Future of Alternative Proteins. CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) https://tinyurl.com/57742pke
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
