A pollution that is hardly talked about
The global warming potential of synthetic meat (or rather cell-based as suggested by the WHO), defined in equivalents of carbon dioxide emitted for each kilogram produced is from 4 to 25 times higher than that of traditional beef according to the results of the research carried out by Derrick Risner and his colleagues of the University of California at Davis. This is what Coldiretti reports in highlighting that the study has just been published on the website www.biorxiv.org as a contribution to clarity in a very recent field of investigation on which shadows are growing. The researchers - underlines Coldiretti - conducted an evaluation of the production cycle of cellular-based meat by estimating the energy used in each phase with current production methods, a parameter which is roughly independent of the type of meat produced. In particular - continues Coldiretti - attention was focused on the substances in which stem cells are grown in the laboratory which appear to have a strong impact on the environment, in particular due to the treatment processes necessary to avoid the formation of toxins or bacteria. The result - explains Coldiretti - is that the production of meat in the laboratory has more impact from an environmental point of view than traditional zootechnics.
The FAO census
The environmental concerns that come from the world of research - continues Coldiretti - follow the health risks surveyed by the recent report published by the FAO and the World Health Organization which identified as many as 53 potential health hazards, from allergies to tumors , for cellular-based foods (meat, fish and milk) a definition considered clearer than the term "cultivated" instead preferred by the manufacturing industries but considered to be misleading by the two world authorities. Potential hazards affect the four stages of cell-based food production: cell sorting, production, harvesting and processing. In particular - specifies Coldiretti - the risks according to the experts consulted by Fao and WHO concern the transmission of diseases, animal infections and microbial contamination as well as the need for particular attention on the use of components such as growth factors and hormones used in bioreactors and how these active molecules can interfere with metabolism or be associated with the development of certain types of cancer. In this context - Coldiretti specifies - it should also be remembered that the European Union has banned the use of hormones in breeding and meat production since 1996 and it is therefore unlikely that EFSA will be able to approve it in the context of cellular based.
Artificial food
"Confirmations are starting to arrive from the scientific world on the need to respect the precautionary principle in the face of a new technology with many unknowns that risks changing people's lives and the environment around us" said the president of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini in underline "precisely for this reason the challenge that Coldiretti launches to the European institutions is that the products in the laboratory in the authorization processes are not equated to food but rather to pharmaceutical products". A need that has led to the presentation in Italy of the bill that prohibits the production, marketing and use of artificial food which will now have to be discussed and then approved by Parliament, with Coldiretti collecting half a million signatures of citizens, over 2 municipalities that often voted unanimously, all regions of every political color and exponents of every alignment who supported the proposal in a bipartisan way. A mobilization which - concludes Coldiretti - has the merit of turning the spotlight on a business in the hands of a few rich and influential people in the world which is now beginning to shed light (source: Coldiretti).