Farm Minister Francesco Lollobrigida on Thursday spurred the centre-left opposition's the ire for saying poor Italians eat better than rich ones, unlike in America where the opposite is true.
Lollobrigida said "the less well-off often eat better because they buy better quality produce directly from producers".
The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and the left-wing populist 5-Star Movement (M5S) attacked Lollobrigida for allegedly "insulting the poor" and said "we hope Lollobrigida becomes poor".
Lollobridida is the brother in law of Premier Giorgia Meloni and a heavyweight in her rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party.
He is the grand-nephew of late former screen diva Gina Lollobrigida.
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