Italian senate finally puts the brakes on sale and production of cultivated meat

Swings and roundabouts once again this past week in the world of alternative proteins, with lots of good news... but some bad!

While one European country has pledged significant funding to make protein diversification a top priority – Herzlichen Glückwunsch Deutschland! – another has, not unexpectedly, adopted some draconian measures and gone backwards by some considerable distance. But is Italy’s cultivated meat ban simply a strategic move ahead of EU elections?

In other news, we were pleased to see announcements from two innovative companies in two fantastically progressive countries, with a Dutch cultivated meat leader cutting the ribbon on its new facility in Leiden to scale cultivated pork, while a Swiss technology giant has opened a new Application & Training Centre in Uzwil to foster in a new era of product and process development in plant-based F&B.

Meanwhile, a California company unveiled a precision-fermented ice cream to great acclaim, and across the Atlantic in Portugal, a pilot plant for biomass fermentation was opened, described as a transformative moment in the journey towards addressing the challenge of feeding a growing population while minimizing environmental impact.

Read on to find out more…

As usual, there's plenty more to read on our website, with more news being uploaded daily. Let's hope no other EU countries join Italy in the next seven days!

• Italy bans lab-grown cell-cultivated meat

• Cultivated meat leader Meatable opens new pilot facility in Leiden to scale cultivated pork development

• Agricultural contract lab helps ranchers, farmers, and scientists enhance environmental conditions and crop production

• Bühler boosts food innovation with new Application & Training Centers in Uzwil, Switzerland