If parliamentarian Elvira Savino has her way, Italian parents who insist on a vegan diet for their children will risk jail time, NBC News reports.
Savino, from the conservative Forza Italia party, has put forward a law that would hold parents legally responsible for feeding their children on "a diet devoid of elements essential for healthy and balanced growth," according to its text.
Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or poultry and vegans also do not eat animal products such as eggs and dairy foods.
The law proposes jail sentences of a year for raising a child on a vegan diet, up to four years if the child develops a permanent health problem and up to seven years if the child dies as a result.
Last month in the northern city of Milan, doctors determined that a one-year-old boy who was taken to a hospital had the weight of a three-month-old because of a vegan diet.
Savino told Reuters she has, “nothing against vegans or veganism as long as it is a free choice by adults.”
