There are two ways to approach the resurgence of the heated discussion on novel food in Europe; one cautious and one more ideological.

A debate has been raging in Italy over the past few weeks and no, its not on whether the real parmesan is from Wisconsin, as argued in a recent viral interview.

At the end of March, the countrys right-wing government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni put forward a number of draft laws proposing a ban on cell-based or cultured meat and stricter labelling rules for insect-based products.

In the Italian public debate, cultured meat is labelled as synthetic meat, which conjures up an image of plastic or something inedible.

The term arguably does not make much sense from a scientific point of view since it is cultivated in laboratories from natural cells and not assembled from polymers.

But synthetic meat has become an obsession for the executive, with Italys Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida reiterating at every opportunity that this technology puts at risk both health of citizens and Italys gastronomic heritage.

A couple of weeks ago, the issue reached the podium of the European Commissions daily briefing with the press.

What were talking about here is novel food. Now, insects and cultured meat are examples of novel food, the European Commission spokesperson in charge of food safety Stefan de Keersmaecker told reporters.

Novel food is defined in Europe as food that has not been consumed to a significant degree before 15 May 1997, the day when the first regulation on novel food came into force.

The main principle behind the regulation is having a marketing authorisation process to ensure the safety of these products, which include now popular foodstuffs such as chia seeds or vitamin K2.

Indeed, all types of novel foods must be strictly assessed by European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) before being placed on the market.

This pretty temporal definition of novel food always made me think of a famous line in a book by Michael Pollan, perhaps one of the best food journalists in the business.

In his In Defense of Food, Pollan gives a tip not to eat anything your great-grandmother wouldnt recognise as food.

It might sound a bit extreme, but he has a point.

Many out there are actually afraid of novel food for a simple reason: At this point, we would have already known if a certain traditional food could bring harm to human health.

Since we havent had enough time to prove the safety of novel foods, the EU adds an additional layer to their safety assessment.

But the Commission has not yet received any request for placing any type of cultured meats on the market in the EU.

Still, the discussion is not purely theoretical and such requests will, sooner or later, arrive on EFSAs table.

Two weeks ago, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) released their much-awaited first report on the safety aspects of the cultured meat industry.

This is the first contribution on the matter, and it also acknowledges that a limited amount of information and data on the food safety aspects of cell-based foods to support regulators in making informed decisions.

But there is another reason why people might be afraid of novel food, which is purely cultural, if not ideological.

The defence of food tradition has always been present in Italy, but it reached a new peak with the current government, which has adopted a very conservative stance on the matter.

A slide towards the so-called gastronationalism is something that political analysts should take into consideration ahead of the EU elections in 2024 since big constituencies in Europe depend on farmers and food producers in general.

Novel food is not just something to be scared of or suspicious about.

It also represents a drive for innovation in food production, with a potential contribution to the outstanding issues of feeding a growing population and increasing the sustainability of the food systems.

A cautious approach to novel foods safety is understandable and necessary. But an ideological defence of food tradition could actually deprive us of tools to reach these targets.

By Gerardo Fortuna

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Agri export boost. EU agri-food exports grew by almost a third in 2022 compared to 2021, according to a Commission report published on Thursday. The biggest increase was seen in cereals and related products, which the EU increasingly exported to developing economies in the face of the turmoil in global grain markets caused by Russias war on Ukraine. EU imports from Ukraine increased by 88% in 2022, mainly driven by cereal, oilseeds, and protein crops.

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AUSTRIA

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FRANCE

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20 April I Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development Extraordinary Meeting

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[Edited by Alice Taylor]

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Agrifood Brief: Who's afraid of the novel food - EURACTIV