"Frankenstein" application

New attempt for laboratory meat harbors enormous risks

You can like it, but you don't have to - artificial meat could soon end up on our plates.

(Bild: stock.adobe)

Traditional agriculture remains under pressure: a French start-up has now submitted an application for the approval of artificially produced foie gras.

The French company Gourmey is behind the current "Frankenstein" application to the Commission. The company has bagged 65 million euros from investors and wants to flood our plates with a range of artificial meat products - even beyond foie gras.

The production of laboratory meat requires enormous amounts of energy and chemical additives, the long-term effects of which on health are still completely unexplored.

Alexander Bernhuber, EU-Abgeordneter

Bild: Gabriele Moser

 "Europe is facing a dangerous threshold - what may initially appear to be an innovation harbors immense risks for our society and economy," warns Lower Austrian MEP Alexander Bernhuber once again. He wants to prevent the introduction of protein products from the "Frankenstein laboratory".

For their part, the proponents of pseudo-meat put forward appealing arguments relating to the environment and ethics: Less -emissions and - at least this is true for foie gras - less animal suffering.

But: "The downsides of this utopia are simply ignored by many." Although no animals are killed directly for laboratory meat, animal cells are required for production. And their extraction and breeding are anything but unproblematic. In addition, millions of jobs in the EU are at stake.