They have a reactionary far right government since September 2022. They've got more where that came from
But this decision is not unreasonable.
Let the World eat it so we can gather data. We are Italians, we've never been early adopters of anything coming from outside our borders.
Especially food wise and except mobile phones.
It is also not unreasonable to label things for what they really are.
Almond juice is not milk as in "the white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals" and plant based meat substitutes are not a steak or a burger, they are vegetable patties.
I wonder how long it will take Italy to make coconut milk producers/distributors to rename their products to "coconut juice".
that's because you're talking about English, In Italian it absolutely is, we do not call them burgers but hamburger which means a patty of meat between two slices of bread or in a sliced bun. Or just the patty of meat. But being made of meat is the most important part.
cf: milk of magnesium, milk of ambrosia, various plant saps called "milk", etc.
in the original story of Amrita there was a sea of real milk involved.
> plant saps called "milk"
like coconut milk or oat milk of course. That doesn't mean it's not juice and that the name stayed for historical reasons. And because they actually look like milk. Almond juice doesn't look like milk, unless processed. That's why I mentioned almond milk in the first place.
coffee and tea came to Europe through Ottoman Empire.
> other new goods coming across the silk road
Marco Polo went through the silk road, but Italy did not invent it.
The silk road went from China to the actual Crimea.
it's not prosciutto crudo, it's a vegetable thing.
I agree with this ban that meat terms should be used for meat and not vegan alternatives. And as others pointed out, Italy is not only known for pizza, pasta and their wines, their meat is also protected in the same way their wine is. This has a side-effect of ensuring the traditional meat products will remain meat-based.
Also consider cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Romano. For extended list see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PDO_products_by_countr...
I don't think many customers would accept paying the premium for synthetic or vegan cheeses...