On November 18, the Hungarian parliament voted to ban the production and sale of cultivated meat products. The motion passed with 140 votes in favor, 10 against, and 18 abstentions.
Hungary previously spoke out against cultivated meat when it held the European Council Presidency last year. The Presidency sent a note to EU delegations claiming that meat and dairy consumption is an important part of the “European way of life”, with the implication that plant-based and cultivated products could pose a threat to European culture. The country also supported a note put forward by Austria, France, and Italy in early 2024, which said that cultivated products “can never be called meat”.
As reported by Telex, the plans to ban cultivated meat were put up for public debate last summer, and the proposal was submitted to parliament in March 2025. Hungary’s Ministry of Agriculture claims that cultivated meat could be harmful to human health, the environment, and traditional rural lifestyles.
However, these claims are questionable; cultivated meat would need to pass the EU’s stringent regulatory process to ensure its safety before becoming available to buy. While some studies suggest that cultivated meat production requires considerable resource use, others conclude that it could have significant environmental benefits. Furthermore, research has found that cultivated meat could provide increased opportunities for some farmers, rather than posing a threat.
“It should be down to consumers to decide”
Hungary’s cultivated meat ban comes after Italy brought in similar legislation in 2023. Last year, the European Commission said that Italy had violated an EU scrutiny procedure by banning cultivated meat without allowing other member states or the Commission itself to give their views. As a consequence, the Commission said the ban may be unenforceable. However, Hungarian Agriculture Minister István Nagy came out in support of the Italian law, claiming that cultivated meat has “unforeseeable consequences”.
The European Commission also criticised Hungary’s proposed cultivated meat ban in 2024, describing it as “unjustified” and potentially harmful to the European single market. The Commission argued that the ban could disrupt the harmonised authorisation procedure for novel foods at the EU level, and said that Hungary had not provided supporting evidence against cultivated meat.
Despite the bans, research commissioned by GFI Europe last year indicated that people across the EU want the freedom to decide whether or not to eat cultivated meat. In 13 out of 15 countries surveyed, the majority of respondents supported the introduction of cultivated meat products. This even held true in Italy, where 53% were in favour.
“Cultivated meat must go through one of the world’s most rigorous regulatory processes before it will be available in the EU,” said Seth Roberts, senior policy manager at GFI Europe. “This survey shows people across a wide range of countries believe that once it’s been approved, it should be down to consumers to decide whether or not they want to eat it.”
