The lab-made meat that 'could kill the EU'

A burger made in a lab could "kill" the European Union, according to a report.

Cultivated in a Petri dish from animal cells, this type of meat is "so divisive" it "doesn't even have an agreed-upon name", said Politico, and is the subject of a "fight" at "the heart of the European project".

'Turning rabid'

Lab meat is meat grown from the cells of animals in steel tanks. Though it's known in the industry as cultivated meat, it's "sometimes called cultured meat, lab-grown meat or cell-based meat", said Associated Press.

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With the politics of agriculture in a "particularly febrile state", this form of meat has become "the target of an almighty backlash", said Politico. It has "tweaked a raw nerve" in European agriculture because critics say it threatens the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – a "bountiful" subsidy program that "doles out" €45bn a year in income support to farmers.

Plant-based meats and drinks are already "whittling bits off" the CAP as they "progressively trim" sales of animal meat and dairy. Farmers' unions warn that if lab-grown meat takes "another slice" the CAP would either have to "fatten its budget" which would be "politically unfeasible", or "watch livestock farms cease to be financially viable, radically transforming Europe's hinterlands", which would be "politically unpopular".

The US states of Florida and Alabama have banned development of lab-made meat products, claiming the industry threatens traditional farming. Italy has also banned it, a move seen as premature by some because lab-grown meat is not yet authorised for consumption in Europe.

According to a note that 12 governments submitted to the Council of the European Union earlier this year, lab meat represents a threat to "primary farm-based approaches and genuine food production methods that are at the very heart of the European farming model". With farming funds so pivotal to European unity, if you break the CAP, they argue, you "might just break the EU".

With farmers up in arms, the "war's most zealous soldier" is farmers' leader Ettore Prandini who "practically turns rabid" when he speaks about the issue. He "had to be restrained" after confronting Italian parliamentarians who were holding up signs defending lab-grown meat, and has boosted claims that "Big Pharma" is "secretly funding research on alt-proteins" to "make consumers sick" and "boost medicine sales".

The wider political rhetoric around the issue has led some commentators to believe that, just as with climate and migration, in lab meat, Europe's far-right have "found another red rag to soak up people's anger at a changing world".

And there are other pressures on the meat and dairy industry. Oatly, the plant-based milk brand, faced a four-year battle over the use of the slogan "Post Milk Generation" on its products after dairy bosses argued that it was unlawful to use the term "milk" in a trademark "in relation to products that are not mammary secretions". But High Court Judge Mr Justice Richard Smith "sided with Oatly", reported the Daily Mail.

The "steaks were high" in 2020 when the European Parliament decided meatless and plant-based products could still be called sausages, burgers and other words traditionally associated with meat, said Sky News.

'Not the enemy'

Synthetic meat "need not spell disaster to farms", according to a new study from the Royal Agricultural University. Researchers spoke to over 80 farmers and British farmers told them they did not see "alternative meat" products as a major threat.

"Sure, there was a deal of concern about how it might play out, the unintended consequences for farming", lead researcher Professor Tom MacMillan told the BBC.

"But there was a lot of curiosity to something often seen as the enemy," and farmers were "really engaged in the practical possibilities, supplying ingredients to the technology, maybe even hosting production units on their farms".