A clear denial
Almost 3 out of 4 Italians (74%) say no to artificial food produced in a laboratory, from meat to milk to fish that financial power groups and multinationals are trying to impose on world markets despite doubts about the long-term effects on human health. This is what emerges from the Coldiretti/Notosondaggi investigation on the occasion of the start of the examination in the Chamber of the Government bill, already approved with amendments by the Senate, which introduces the ban on the production and marketing of cell-based foods for food use or for animal feed. The FAO - WHO report speaks of "Cell-based food", a definition considered clearer than the term "cultivated" (for example "cultured meat"), which is instead preferred by the manufacturing industries but considered to be misleading by the two world authorities, which note moreover, how the word "synthetic" is also used by the academic world as well as by the media.
A technology with many unknowns
“Italy, which is a world leader in food quality and safety, has the responsibility of leading the way in health and environmental protection policies” states the president of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini in underlining that “the widespread distrust confirms the need to respect the precautionary principle in the face of a new technology with many unknowns which risks changing people's lives and the environment around us". The Government's bill arrived in response to the great mobilization of Coldiretti which led to the collection of over 2 million signatures in support of the measure, with over 2 thousand municipalities who voted in favour, often unanimously, all the Regions of each political color and exponents of all sides as well as Ministers and Undersecretaries, national and European Parliamentarians and Mayors. Without forgetting the unprecedented, broad and composite alliance to claim the defense of the culture of quality food and push against the artificial and synthetic one which includes Acli, AcliTerra, Adusbef, Altritalia Ambiente, Anpit, Asi, AssoBio, Centro Consumatori Italia, Cia, Cna, Città del Vino, Città dell'Olio, Codacons, Codici, Consulta District del Cibo, Ctg, Coldiretti, Demeter, Ecofuturo, Ewa, Federbio, Federparchi, Fipe, Fondazione Qualivita, Fondazione Una, Fondazione UniVerde, Globe, Greenaccord , Gre, Italia Nostra, Kyoto Club, Lega Consumatori, Masci, Movimento Consumatori, Naturasi, Salesiani per il social, Slow food Italia, Unpli, Wilderness.
Long experimental tests
For the type of process and the ingredients used, the authorization procedures required for medicines must be applied, which require experimental tests lasting at least ten years - states Coldiretti - considering that from allergies to tumors there are 53 potential health dangers linked to foods produced in laboratories identified in the document of the two world authorities and for this reason any request for marketing authorization that were to reach the EU could not be assessed with the ordinary novel food procedures. It is no coincidence that in countries where sales such as Israel have been permitted, before consumption, signatures on a release from liability and health consequences are requested - specifies Coldiretti. But – continues Coldiretti – there are also concerns on an environmental level. The results of the research carried out by Derrick Risner and his colleagues at the University of California at Davis – continues Coldiretti – have highlighted that the global warming potential of synthetic meat defined in equivalents of carbon dioxide emitted for each kilogram produced is from 4 to 25 times higher than that of traditional beef. EFSA will have to take into account the fact that - notes Coldiretti - as reported in the FAO and WHO report on cell-based food, there are risks relating to 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 but banned on European farms for over 40 years. An insurmountable limit present in European legislation” (source: Coldiretti).