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Parliamentary question - E-009589/2016Parliamentary question
E-009589/2016
European Parliament

Italian Government's communication plan to encourage young people to eat meat

19.12.2016

Answer in writing

Question for written answer E-009589-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Eleonora Evi (EFDD) , Dario Tamburrano (EFDD) , Fabio Massimo Castaldo (EFDD) , Isabella Adinolfi (EFDD) , Marco Zullo (EFDD) , Marco Affronte (Verts/ALE) , Laura Ferrara (EFDD)

Lifestyles and consumption patterns are changing, especially among young people. Figures for the first nine months of the year show there was a fall in purchases of meat (-5.6%), cold meats (‐5.2%), and milk and dairy products (-3.6%)[1].

Young people born between 1980 and 2000 are affected the most by this, to the extent that 25% say they do not eat red meat and 67% believe meat is harmful to health[2].

At the convention of the ‘Associazione Industriali delle Carni e dei Salumi’ [Meat and Processed Meat Industry Association] in Milan on 22 November 2016, the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies presented a communication plan (worth EUR 3.8 million) to curb the flow of ‘alternative information’ on meat that appears to be flooding the Internet and influencing ‘millennials’ in particular[3].

The World Cancer Research Fund recommends limiting the consumption of red meat and processed meat[4], and the IARC has classified cold meats as ‘definitely carcinogenic’ and red meat as ‘probably carcinogenic’[5]. In view of this and the fact that Italy, unlike many other Member States, does not list red/processed meat among the risk factors for cancer[6]:

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