FRENCH FARM MINISTER SAYS ‘NON’ TO CELL-BASED MEAT

French Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie has taken to social media to make his position on cell-based meat clear: “Meat comes from life, not from laboratories.” Is this stance a blow to French food tech?

The food tech industry rejoiced last week when US company Eat Just received the world’s first cell-based meat approval. Following Singapore’s regulatory green light​, Eat Just will be able to sell its cultivated chicken product – which will be used as an ingredient to make chicken nuggets – to food service.

While Eat Just believes success in Asia will encourage Europe to follow suit, not all in the bloc are backing regulatory approval on home ground, Flora Southey reported for FoodNavigator.

Notably, France’s Food and Agricultural Minister Julien Denormandie took to Twitter last week to make his lack of support for cell-based meat clear. “Cell-based meat? Moi, NON​.” Just hours after the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) announced approval of Eat Just’s cultivated chicken product on 2 December, Denormandie tweeted: “Is this really the society we want for our children? Me, NON. I say it clearly: meat comes from life, not from laboratories. Count on me that in France, meat remains natural and never artificial!”