The summary
Ten years following the presentation of the world’s first cellular beef minced steak and three years following the first marketing authorization for cellular chicken in Singapore, while private initiatives are developing rapidly in this field, the Economic Affairs Committee of the Senate commissioned Olivier Rietmann and Henri Cabanel to study the issues related to the development of these products from the cellular industry.
The fact-finding mission carried out some forty hearings and visited the sites of three companies developing this product in the Netherlands and Maine-et-Loire.
At the end of her work, she clearly recalled her anthropological, ethical, cultural and, in short, political opposition to the development of “cellular foods” – generally called by abuse of language “in vitro meat” or “cultured meat”. “. Promising on paper (environment, animal welfare), this innovation will in no way be essential in the food transition, and would not be without impact on livestock farming.
It made eighteen recommendations grouped into three areas, to:
– strengthen the authorization procedure for new foods and the rules applicable to cellular foods;
– better inform the consumer and protect the animal production sectors, by agreeing on clear naming and labeling rules;
– intensify research on cellular foods, but prioritize breeding and plant proteins to meet the challenge of protein autonomy.
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