Bill to Ban Cultivated Meat Tabled in Parliament

Hungary is to introduce a comprehensive ban on meat produced from animal cells in laboratories. The government argues that cultivated meat (also called cultured meat) could pose a potential threat to human health, the environment and traditional agricultural production. The bill before Parliament would allow only medical and veterinary use, and strictly prohibit the production and marketing of cultivated meat in Hungary in all other cases, Index reports.

The bill defines that laboratory meat is any product isolated or produced from animal cells or tissue under artificial conditions, outside the living organism. This new food technology allows meat-like products to be cultured under laboratory conditions without slaughtering live animals. The process involves harvesting cells from an animal and propagating them in nutrient solution, where the cells divide and develop into muscle tissue. Proponents of the technology say it can offer a more sustainable and ethical alternative to conventional meat production, as it requires fewer resources and land, and can reduce the environmental burden of animal production.

The authors of the bill have raised a number of concerns, stating that traditional food production has a positive impact on agriculture and rural livelihoods compared to the production of artificial meat.

They also point out that the basis of the diet should be good quality food produced from natural ingredients, and that non-traditional technologies present potential risks for which there is as yet no satisfactory answer.

The proposal stresses that food is incorporated into the human body and therefore every effort should be made to exclude possible negative effects.

The bill proposes that in the event of a breach of the ban, the food chain supervisory body would impose sanctions under the law on food chain safety and its supervision. The proposal would empower the government to designate by decree the food chain supervisory body to monitor compliance with the law. The law banning cultivated meat would enter into force the day after its publication.

While Hungary has opted for a total ban, the regulation of laboratory meat varies worldwide: Singapore was the first country to allow the sale of lab-grown chicken meat in 2020, and the United States, gave the green light to two companies for their cultivated meat products in 2023.

In the European Union, there is currently no uniform regulation, and laboratory meat is considered a novel food subject to prior authorization.

The issue of regulation is highly divisive globally, with proponents arguing that the technology can help reduce the environmental footprint of livestock farming and alleviate animal welfare concerns, while opponents, including Hungarian lawmakers, stress the need for natural, traditional farming methods and the precautionary principle.