A regulatory body has given its first-ever green light to the commercial sale of “cultured meat,” which is created in bioreactors without the use of any animals in the production process. The entire beef business has praised the new breakthrough as a watershed event.
The “chicken bites” made by the American firm Eat Just have been given the green light by the Singapore Food Agency after passing a safety check. This might pave the way for a future in which all meat is manufactured without the need to slaughter animals.
Cultivated chicken, beef, and pork are being developed by dozens of companies to mitigate the effects of industrial livestock production on the climate and ecological crises and to meet consumer demand for healthier, more humanely raised meat.
About 130 million chickens and 4 million pigs are slaughtered daily for human consumption. Sixty percent of all mammals on Earth are domesticated animals, thirty-six percent are humans, and only four percent are in the wild.
Deforestation in the Cerrado has increased by 801 square kilometers since 2015, according to a recent study of land owned or used by soya producers.
Eat Just uses a 1,200-liter bioreactor to cultivate the cells for its product, which are then mixed with vegan components. The company announced that at first, only a Singaporean eatery would carry the snacks. Up until production was ramped up, the price of the product would be much more than that of regular chicken, but Eat Just claimed that it would be more cost-effective in the long run.
Since cells may be extracted from biopsies of living animals, the process did not begin with the slaughter of a chicken but rather with cells obtained from a cell bank. All of the nourishment for the multiplying cells came from plants.
The Singapore assembly line uses a growing medium that contains fetal bovine serum, which is derived from fetal blood but is mainly eliminated before ingestion. The company announced that a plant-based serum would be utilized in the next production line, but that such a serum had not been available when the Singapore approval procedure kicked out two years ago.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that Westerners consume an excessive amount of meat, both for their own health and the health of the world. Some scientists argue that reducing meat intake is the most effective thing an individual can do to help the environment.
There will soon be a butcher shop where you can buy cell-based meat, often known as cultured, cultivated, or sometimes slaughter-free meat.
Singapore is the chosen location for the ground-breaking launch. Eat Just, a food tech business, has teamed up with Huber’s Butchery there. This was done so that consumers would buy chicken under the GOOD Meat brand.
GOOD Meat, introduced by Eat Just in 2016, boasts that its cultured meats are “genuine meat, manufactured without cutting down a forest or taking a life.”
To this day, Singapore is the only nation where cell-based meat is legal to sell and serve to the general public. To date, however, only a small number of establishments, such as upscale restaurants and hawker centers, have been able to accommodate these. One of Asia’s major food delivery platforms, Foodpanda, joined with Eat Just as well.
Huber’s has created unique meals based on cells for its on-premises café. Participants in the movement see it as a major advance in mainstreaming the idea of animal protein that is both sustainable and does not require any form of animal murder.
In a statement, Eat Just co-founder and CEO Josh Tetrick called the introduction of the new method of meat preparation at the butchery “another historic event” on the path toward a more tasty and sustainable food system.
“I’m really delighted to join with the Huber’s team to provide consumers a whole new way to experience our cultivated chicken in the new year.”
Schedule for the Introduction of Lab-Grown Meat
The delicacies that Huber’s will sell to the general public in January have already been sampled by invited guests. The date of the regulatory clearance of GOOD Meat, in December 2020, will be celebrated with tasting activities.
Singaporeans who are still intrigued by the prospect of eating cell-based beef can make reservations to do so next month. Fried chicken skin, stew, and kebabs made from chickens raised in a laboratory all make appearances on the menu. While supplies of GOOD Meat last, we are now taking reservations.
Huber says it’s collaborating with the pioneer in cultured meat because it shares the butchery’s commitment to high standards of quality and food safety. The Huber family, however, is nevertheless cognizant of the fact that the planet’s food system is under severe stress. Furthermore, it is crucial to find new, non-animal protein sources.
“Cultivated meat could be one of the answers to over-farming due to increased population size and density and a rise in animal protein intake in many regions of the world,” Andre Huber, executive director of Huber, said in a statement.
When it comes to innovation, will the United States follow Singapore’s lead?
The United States is also making headway in the quest to develop cell-based beef.
The move follows a determination by the FDA that UPSIDE Foods’ farm-raised chicken is safe for human consumption. The conclusion followed a lengthy period of research. It hasn’t been given the go-light to sell to the public just yet.
Eat Just has a history of marketing and selling vegan alternatives to animal products like vegan eggs and vegan mayonnaise. Supermeat.com, based out of Israel, has recently started offering free samples of their “crispy cultured chicken” to the general public.
Experts in the field predicted future success for firms like Memphis Meats, Mosa Meat, and Aleph Farms since they were developing textured items like steaks and could create large quantities of lab-grown meat from the get-go. As of recently, Memphis Meats has received investment from conventional meat giants Tyson and Cargill.
