This month, Italy submitted its culinary heritage to UNESCO for designation as an "intangible cultural heritage." The country's bid named the cuisine's rituals, local flavors, and presence in social life as reasons why it should be recognized and protected. In other words, Italian food is special—so special, in fact, that the Italian government is looking to outlaw products that it feels might corrupt it. The country is looking to crack down on the "decadence" of lab-grown food. A bill approved yesterday by the Italian government would ban "the use of laboratory-produced food and animal feed as it aims to safeguard the country's agri-food heritage, its agriculture minister told a news conference after a Cabinet meeting," reported Reuters. If the bill passes, "Italian industry will not be allowed to produce food or feed 'from cell cultures or tissues derived from vertebrate animals.'" Violators would face fines of up to 60,000 euros ($65,000 U.S.).
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