At Cibus di Parma, between the plant-based stew and the blitz against test-tube food

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There is a lot of innovation among the stands of Cibus Connecting Italy, the Made in Italy agri-food fair taking place in Parma on 29 and 30 March. In the area dedicated to plant-based products, a novelty of this 2023 edition, you can taste the mozzarella made with fermented almonds and the vegetable sauce derived from yellow peas, the green stew and the high-protein bread. A little further on, Coldiretti organizes a blitz of farmers against the risks of test-tube food: they celebrate the bill approved by the Council of Ministers which bans meat, fish and milk obtained in the laboratory from animal cells in Italy. “Italy, which is the European leader in quality and safety at the table, has a duty to lead the way in food policies to protect citizens and businesses,” claims the farmers’ confederation.

Two sides of the same coin, that of innovation: on one side the green philosophy of vegetable proteins, on the other that of synthetic meat. The former are witnessing a growth in consumption, at a time when the shopping cart is tightening the purse strings: according to data presented by NielsenIQ at the fair, in January purchases of plant-based products alone grew by 3.2% , while consumer goods in Italy fell by an average of 6%. But synthetic meat is the real topic of the day among the stands.

Just today, EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority based in Parma, announced that since 2018, i.e. since the European Regulation on Novel Foods came into force, it has not received any requests for an opinion on the synthetic meat. Therefore, no dossier is currently on the table of European scientists. But what will happen if a request arrives? According to MEP Paolo De Castro, at that point Brussels would be called to intervene with the aim of harmonizing the laws of the member states. «Three years ago, again at Cibus, we raised the first alarm on synthetic food – said the president of Confagricoltura, Massimiliano Giansanti – it is important that the government put a point on a relevant issue, which we look at above all in the context of the geopolitics of food. I hope that we will be able to involve the European Commission in a constructive debate on this issue”.

«We don’t compete with synthetic meat or Wisconsin parmesan – said the CEO of Fiere di Parma, Antonio Cellie – test-tube food will never become big business, it’s just a customary phenomenon. Italy must focus on quality, and to continue to grow abroad, food companies must learn to disintermediate, that is, bypass distributors and importers and communicate directly with foreign distribution chains».