'Important Players' In Romanian Meat Industry Behind Proposed Cultured Meat Ban, Says Investigation

An investigation into a proposed Romanian ban on cultured meat sales has said that that the “initiators of the law” are “important players” within the national meat industry.

A bill banning the sale of cultured or cultivated meat grown from animal cells was unanimously passed by the Romanian senate. It will be voted on in the Chamber of Deputies later this month.

Snoop, an independent Romanian media company with a focus on investigative journalism, published its analysis of the national situation at the start of September.

“The initiators of the law have close ties with industrial livestock farms and, together with other businessmen around them, own thousands of hectares, being important players in the meat market,” write Snoop journalists Matei Bărbulescu and Andrei Petre.

Animal agriculture lobbyists driving force behind clampdown on cultured meat

Photo shows a raw beef steak on a white background — Adobe Stock Cultivated meat and other alternative proteins could help the global food system transition away from high-impact animal products

The currently governing Social Democratic Party (PSD) first announced the “Meat and Meat Products Act” in 2023. It will make it compulsory for traders to shelve nationally produced meat separately from important cuts, making it easily identifiable to shoppers.

However, when the act entered the legislative process a month after its announcement, it contained an additional section – Article 5 – to prohibit all marketing of cultivated meat.

An explanatory memorandum lists male fertility and overall well-being among the benefits of meat consumption – despite a growing body of evidence to the contrary – and states that Article 5 is necessary to protect the national “cuisine, food tradition, and food health.”

Cultivated meat is not yet regulated in the EU, and the European Commission has now withdrawn a proposal to promote alternative proteins in its climate action plan after protests by farmers earlier this year. Italy officially banned cultivated meat in 2023.

A separate report published by Unearthed, the investigative arm of Greenpeace UK, also highlights increasing EU hostility towards cultivated meat and alternative proteins. This backlash “is being driven by an influential lobbying campaign fronted by a former beef industry executive and funded by livestock interests,” said the report.

Despite the meat industry’s intensive lobbying, the average European still cutting down on animal products. A survey at the end of 2023 suggests that over 50 percent of people on the continent are reducing their meat consumption for health, the environment, and animals.