In a bid to protect the country's livestock industry, the Italian Government has proposed a bill to restrict non-animal meat products from using meat-related terminology in branding and packaging. The bill argues that plant-based meat brands using traditional meat terms on their labels confuse consumers about their nutritional value.

The bill has gained strong opposition from plant-based meat industry organizations such as ProVeg, calling it “misleading and backward.” Vice President of ProVeg Jasmijn de Boo described the proposed bill as misleading since plant-based alternatives are generally more nutritious and contain less cholesterol than conventional meat products, and also because they have several other advantages over conventional meat products.

The bill was introduced to the Italian parliament in December 2022. In line with the Italian legislature process, the bill will be assigned to a parliamentary committee that conducts an inquiry and prepares a report with the text of the bill for the Assembly as part of the first review. Following the review, the matter will proceed to the parliamentary debate and approval stage.