‘Culinary alliance’ in EU wants debate on lab-grown meat
BRUSSELS, Jan 28 — A “culinary alliance” started by EU members Austria, France and Italy is seeking a public debate around lab-grown meat, agriculture ministers said on Tuesday while attending a meeting in Brussels.
Synthetic meat cannot be sold in the European Union as it has not been authorised by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Austria and Italy’s ministers said a public consultation and impact study of such lab-grown meat should be first carried out and then if — as seems likely — it is approved for human consumption, it should be clearly labelled.
Austrian Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig said synthetic meat — which is already authorised for sale in the United States and Singapore — “is by no means comparable with naturally grown meat”.
He said it was “produced under sterile conditions with all kinds of artificial additives and with a high energy requirement”.
“A discussion and a comprehensive impact assessment” was needed, and should it end up being approved in the European Union, “we are calling for mandatory labelling,” he said.
That is why his country along with France and Italy “have now come together to form a culinary alliance on this matter”, Totschnig said.
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