Italy could become the first country in the European Union to ban sales of lab grown meat if a government-backed law passes through parliament in the coming weeks.

Giorgia Meloni's government has proposed fines of around $65,000 USD for violations by retailers or producers.

Environmentalists say that cultivated meat is a sustainable alternative and produces lower emissions than farming.

The bill has been backed by Italy's farming association, Coldiretti, which campaigned to ban the products, calling them "Frankenstein meat" on its website.

"Coldiretti gathered millions of signatures against the production of synthetic food, against the commercialization and importation of this type of food into our country," said Coldiretti's Milan spokesperson Alessandro Rota.

The Prime Minister has positioned her government as the defenders of Italian cultures: religious, social and culinary.

Critics say that this stance on Italian food is another front in a culture war, while pitting Italy against Brussels.

Lab-cultivated meat has already received regulator approval for human consumption in Singapore and in the U.S the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given it early stage approval. The European Food Safety Authority could soon follow after the European Commission called it "a promising and innovative solution."

Cattle farmers like Luigi Gargioni, who has been farming for generations in the northern Italian province of Cremona, feel that lab-grown meat is a threat to their livelihoods.

"The European Union wants to go forward with synthetic meat. Instead our government is opposing it to defend our Italian excellence and quality that we have in our territory….Brothers of Italy (Meloni's political party) are on our side," he said.

Italian startup Bruno Cell funds research into cultured meat in the autonomous province of Trento. Researchers argue that Italian innovation will be left behind by any ban.

"For a while at least cultivated meat won't be produced in Italy, but from the moment in which the EU approves the consumption of products based on cultivated meat then it will be possible to market the product also in Italy. It's just a way in our opinion to prevent Italian companies and researchers entering this market," spokesperson Bruna Anzá told CGTN.

Food is sacred in Italian culture. Even slightly changing traditional dishes can be regarded as heresy.

Detractors say the government is weaponizing the policy as a form of gastro-nationalism. Supporters of the law think it's vital to protect Italian producers and consumers from an external threat. 

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